Frozen x Little Mermaid: The Major's Quest (Frozenverse Book 1)
by redwrites
Summary: When a new threat arises, Queen Elsa of Arendelle, Princess Melody of Denmark, Maui the Demigod, Moana of Motunui and Tracy the Sea Witch must come together to form an alliance in an attempt to stop the villain called Major Kane from causing destruction on a global scale. Embark on this novel-length adventure with our heroes for the first time ever.
1. Chapter 1: Major Kane

Chapter One

Major Kane

Major Kane shot up his arm and firmly grabbed onto the rock above, scaling the uneven terrain. After a while, he had expected that his eyes would adjust to the dark, but he found that he could not be more wrong. He could barely see what was in front of him in the dark of night, and had purely relied on fumbling around in the dark. It would have been hard enough just to walk straight without tripping, but somehow he had managed to find his way up the cliff. Gunfire rung out all around him, but he ignored it, swinging up his other arm to latch onto another sturdy rock above him, and pulled himself up higher. He felt the torch in his belt holster jiggle precariously, and he quickly secured it, lest it fell into the depths below. More gunfire echoed from behind him, followed by blood curdling screams. He drew a knife from one of the compartments on his belt, and dug it into the rock above him. Hoisting himself up the last bit of rock, he reached the top of the cliff.

A pitch black cave towered in front of him, blacker than the night that surrounded him, and he could swear that he heard the cave beckoning him. Drawing the torch from his belt holster, Kane struck a match and lit it, holding the torch high to illuminate his surroundings. With one hand clutching the knife and the other wielding the flaming torch, he walked into the dark cave, and the cave seemingly swallowed him whole.

Walking along the dark passages of the cave, Kane moved the torch left and right, examining his surroundings. It looked like the cave had not been entered for many years, as there were cobwebs and dust everywhere. _He had better find what he came for._ He had spent years waiting to get his hands on the snake totem located in Motunui, one of the many islands in Hawaii. _Five years._ Five years practicing spells and enchantments would have all been for nothing if he could not find the snake totem to channel the black magic that he had grown a capacity for. With the snake totem, he could easily harness all that energy and focus it in ways that he could only dream of up till this point.

Major Kane pushed a handful of cobwebs out of the way and looked ahead. The passage seemed to be widening into a large opening. He reached the end of the long passageway and entered a spacious empty cavern. His eyes darted around the room looking for the snake totem, until they rested on a small statue in the corner of the cavern. Kane walked towards the statue, hoping that he had found what he was looking for. He latched the torch on a crevice in the wall, and the flaming torch was held in place, leaving both hands free. Reaching the statue, he surveyed it from top to bottom. It was dark grey, made out of marble in the shape of a snake, but it didn't seem to hold the totem that he was looking for.

Doubt crept over the Major, and he picked up the statue. He hurled it against the stony walls of the cavern and it dropped to the ground. Shattering into a million pieces, the sound of the statue breaking echoed throughout the dark cave. Kane walked over to the broken pieces, moving some away with his boot, and below the fragments of marble was a glowing red object.

He stooped down and brushed aside the fragments of the statue with his hand, not caring if his skin was scratched by the sharp pieces of marble. Sure enough, some of the stone fragments latched onto the skin of his fingers, leaving a couple of nasty cuts. Barely flinching, he ignored the pain and picked up the red object. Dusting it off, he looked at it. A thick metal ring with engravings on its side that textured it like snake scales, and on the front of it, a ruby carved in the image of a serpent. _Yes, this was what he had come to Motunui for. _

Without hesitation, Major Kane slipped the snake totem onto his left ring finger, and a visible aura of dark red energy circled around him. He basked in the field of energy surrounding him as he absorbed it into his being. The dark red aura disappeared completely into his body, leaving only the light from the flaming torch that illuminated the cavern. He felt different now. It was a feeling that couldn't be explained, nor should it be. However, there was something off about it that he couldn't put his finger on. A subtle gnawing urge for blood._ No, it was probably just his mind playing tricks on him. The totem made him feel like nothing could stop him. _He no longer needed the torch as his senses had been heightened, and he could hear, see and smell everything on a whole new level. Y_es, he had what he came for. Now it was time to leave. _

Major Kane stepped out of the pitch black cave, inhaling the fresh air. It was a welcome scent after being in the dark and musty cave for so long. He looked at the carnage below. The tribal villagers, armed with spears were still fighting against his mercenaries who were armed with muskets. Many had fallen from either side, and blood stained the beach that they were fighting on. Many villagers lay motionless, strewn across the beach. Some of the trees were on fire, casting a bright and strange warm hue over the tense and bone-chilling atmosphere, and some of the houses and cultural structures of the tribe had been burnt to the ground.

This was not what he had in mind when he brought the mercenaries with him. He had specifically told them not to kill the villagers, but to simply deter them from obstructing his mission. _All this destruction and death… it was such a waste._ Kane frowned.

Fighting alongside the tribal warriors, a brown jaguar bulldozed itself into a couple of the Major's mercenaries, sending them flying from the impact. In a flash of light, it transformed itself into a man wearing large palm leaves around his waist and carrying a large hook in one hand. The shapeshifter had long black curly hair and brown skin, and was extremely tall and muscular, making Kane's burly mercenaries seem like dwarfs in comparison. With one swing of the hook, the mercenaries surrounding the shapeshifter were catapulted across the beach and into the ocean. _That had to be the legendary fish hook wielding, shapeshifting demigod Maui he had read about in his time training in the dark arts. There was no other logical explanation. _

Amongst the tribal villagers, one stood out from the rest. A young woman armed with a spear made her presence known to the mercenaries, efficiently taking down a couple of them with swift and blunt strikes. Kane's interest was piqued. _What would possess this girl to fight alongside the fully grown men? She certainly had courage._ A red aura surrounded the Major, and he levitated off the rocky cliff, floating towards the heart of the battle where the girl was.

Touching down in the middle of it all, he lifted up one arm swiftly, with his fist clenched, his back toward his men. Instantaneously, the mercenaries froze, and knelt with their right knee to the ground. Then, in unison, their right arms crossed sharply to the opposite shoulder with clenched fists, their heads bowed. The tribal villagers stood back, shocked at the sudden intrusion of the man and the mercenaries' display of loyalty.

"At ease." The Major stretched forth an open palm towards his forces, and they stood up. He turned to one of his mercenaries. "Santos, get everyone to fall back to the Hanedale."

"What about you, Sir?" the mercenary named Santos asked.

Kane, facing the tribal warriors, ignored the question.

Santos looked down, realizing that the Major had acquired the snake totem and was wearing it on his ring finger. With a look of fear and awe written across his face, he motioned for the rest of the mercenaries to fall back without another word.

Kane's eyes darted across the tribal warriors. "Your people have fought valiantly and with honour. I wish to speak with the chief among you. Let us end this conflict without further bloodshed." To his surprise, the young woman that he had witnessed in battle stepped forward, looking him straight in the eye.

He sized her up. She had steely brown eyes, long wavy black hair and was extremely tan. This girl was slender with a muscular build, and did not have a single trace of fear in her eyes. He was duly impressed. "What is your name?" Kane asked.

"Moana." the girl replied, her stare steadfast.

Moana was brimming with defiance, her body poised to strike and her feet dug securely into the sand for a strong stance. _How dare this man invade her village with mercenaries?_ She had been informed by the villagers earlier on as they saw the ship approaching the island, just as she was having dinner with her family.

As she now held the title of village chief at the early age of eighteen, the onus fell upon her to lead her tribe to defend the village. The village had always been peaceful and had never come under siege before, so this was a new experience that the leaders of times past had not prepared for. Hurriedly, she had rallied together the tribe's men and armed themselves with spears.

Although Moana had been trained in melee combat, that wasn't the only weapon in her arsenal. As part of her rite of passage as chief of her tribe, her father had given her a family heirloom, a necklace that could focus white magic. Only recently, she had begun to learn how to harness white magic to defend her people. She silently cursed, wishing that she had practiced more often so that she would have a better grip on white magic for a time like this, as her results were incredibly inconsistent.

Just for assurance, Moana had also called upon her greatest ally and asset, Maui the shapeshifting demigod, to come to the island to aid her in her fight. She was certain that with her experience in warring against the Kakamora pirates and journeying to restore the heart of Te Fiti two years ago, she had gained some tactical prowess and could handle the impending danger. However, with all of her strengths and assets, apparently they were not enough. These mercenaries were well trained and formidable, and had slaughtered a great deal of Moana's villagers and defenders. Sure, she had managed to take down some of the mercenaries by herself, but it wasn't enough to stop the others from burning down houses and killing innocents.

Moana sized up the man in front of her. He was tall and packed quite a bit of muscle on his frame. She was fairly certain that even if she mustered up all her strength, she would not even be able to make him lose his balance. He looked as if he was past his prime, but yet was still a force to be reckoned with. Tactical gear, kevlar padding, combat boots, it seemed like he was well prepared for this battle.

Moana, however, was not. It simply would not be wise to engage him. She glanced down at his hand. _Was that? It couldn't possibly be! It was the snake totem that had been buried in the cave for centuries! _It had been hidden away because it tempted way too many men throughout history. It was said that whoever wielded it would be able to harness black magic so efficiently that anything one wished could be made possible, but it would give the host a terrible bloodlust. She hoped fervently that the man didn't know how to use it.

"Moana, you have my respect. My name is Major Kane." Kane introduced himself with a calm voice.

Moana glared at him. "What do you want? Why did you attack my people?"

The Major glanced over at the tribal warriors, still aiming their spears at him. "You can command them to put down their spears. It won't do any good."

"I've got them right where I want them." Moana retorted sharply. "Now answer the question. Why did you attack Motunui?"

"Your people attacked us. I had hoped that we could come and and go without any bloodshed. I guess I was wrong. You have my word, I will punish the man who gave the order to harm innocents." Major Kane assured Moana with sincerity.

Moana stared at the Major, with a look of mistrust written across her face. "Return the totem, it belongs to my people."

"I can't do that, I'm sorry." Kane clenched his fist tightly, making the snake totem glow red. "I've come too far to turn back now. My quest has just begun."

Standing alongside the villagers, Maui stood poised with his fish hook in hand. He seemed perturbed as he heard the Major speak of his quest.

"Well your quest ends here," Moana retorted in determination, tightening her grip on her spear. "Last chance, return the totem or we will have no choice but to take it back by force."

Kane looked unfazed and a little amused. "You have no idea what kind of forces you are dealing with. I'm warning you, stand down now. For your own sakes."

"Attack!" Moana screeched, and in a split second, the tribal villagers sprung into action. As all the spears converged upon Kane and it appeared that he would be impaled, the Major roared, and a blast of red energy erupted from his body. The shockwave catapulted Moana and the villagers backwards, and they fell hard onto the sand. Maui stood shocked at the display in front of him.

Kane sighed as his body slowly stopped glowing red. _He wished that he didn't have to do that._ However, he could feel a strange sensation coursing through his veins. It was as if a part of him felt satisfied in causing harm. He had never experienced that sensation before in his life, but to his dismay, he could feel the sensation and temptation getting stronger.

"Demigod, would you face me too?" Kane looked at the demigod, hoping that he would not need to engage him needlessly. He was similar in build to the demigod but slightly shorter and less bulky.

Maui narrowed his eyes, locked onto the man standing before him. He knew that attacking the Major head on would be foolish, but he had to. The people of Motunui were counting on him. Charging towards Kane, he bellowed a war cry before shapeshifting into a large bull. He collided with the Major head on, and Kane pushed back against him, his feet anchoring into the sand as he was bulldozed a couple of feet back. As Maui was slowed to a halt by the impact and the resistance, the Major drew a sword from his sheath and slammed the broad side of it against Maui's head with great force.

The attack sent Maui sprawling on his side, and the Major pointed the totem at him. A blast of red energy emerged from his hand and engulfed Maui, causing him to revert to his natural form of a man, his fish hook falling a few feet away from him. Maui writhed on the ground in agony, evidently hurt by the Major's counterattack.

Moana looked on in shock as her best friend and strongest asset fell before the formidable Major. She got up from the sand and ran over to Maui, who lay on the sand motionless. "Maui! Maui, come on. Get up. You're alright. Get up!"

Kane stood over both of them. "I warned you. Don't try to stop me."

Unbeknownst to him, one of the villagers crept up behind the Major, spear in hand. From the corner of her eye, Moana noticed the villager, and to her horror, she realized that it was her father. She silently willed that he would reconsider his current course of action and flee, but it was too late.

The sound of the spear piercing through flesh could be audibly heard. "Get off my island." Her father growled as he shoved the spear deeper into the muscular back of the Major.

Kane staggered, dropping to a knee and grimaced in pain. He slowly stood up and turned around, with the spear still sticking out of his back. The Major reached his arm to the back and with a swift move, removed the spear from his back, blood spilling onto the sand.

A red aura surrounded Major Kane as he exhaled in relief, the wound on his back being miraculously healed by the black magic. The strange sensation engulfed him, urging him to kill the man standing in front of him. _After all, why shouldn't he? The villager was the one who had tried to kill him in the first place._ Major Kane clutched the blood-stained spear in his hand, and buried it into the heart of the villager.

Abruptly, the strange sensation left Kane, and he immediately felt relief coming over him, realizing that it was a bloodlust. Along with the relief came a different sensation. _Guilt. Now he had murdered a man needlessly. _

"NO!" Moana cried out in anguish as she witnessed her father collapsing to the sand. He gasped for air, his gaze fixed on his daughter. Moana ran up to her father, and held his hand gently. "No no no please!" she sobbed.

With whatever remaining strength he had left, he lifted his hand and touched the heirloom necklace that she wore around her neck. "The light," he uttered softly. "It's yours now."

"No," Moana choked as she watched the life drain away from her father's eyes, and buried her face in his chest.

At this point, Maui had begun to stir and attempted to stand, collapsing under the weight of his own body. Moana put her father's pendant around her neck, and looked away from her father's lifeless body at her surroundings. The village was in ruins, the trees were on fire and bodies were strewn across the island. _There was no winning this on her own._ Even her strongest men had been defeated, and her father was dead, and most likely so was the rest of her family. This was a battle she could not win, an opponent she could not overcome, but she could still buy her best friend some time to escape.

Grief stricken, she staggered over to where Maui lay. "Go. Get away from here as fast as you can." Maui looked at her as though he wanted to disagree, his body wrecked with immense pain but unwavering in his devotion to her.

"Go." Moana gently cupped her hands around Maui's cheeks. "You can still make it. Go!" She turned away from Maui and picked up her spear, glaring at the Major in anger as she walked towards him. She felt the anger surging through her body channelling itself as magic within her, and the magic manifested as yellow streaks of energy that sparkled around her remaining free hand.

Maui reached feebly for his fish hook and used all the remaining strength left in him to shape-shift into a brown hawk. He lifted himself off the beach and into the air. As he flapped his wings as fast as he could, wincing in agony with every movement, he could hear Moana let out a blood curdling cry of rage as he soared away from Motunui.

Writer's commentary:

Hi there. It's Red, the writer of this crossover story. Just a little insight about my story and what was my inspiration for writing the way I did. When I was thinking of a villain for this story, I listed out some character traits of the more complex villains from various shows / movies / comic books, such as The Joker, Lex Luthor, Thanos, General Zod, Reverse Flash, Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter etc (I'm a huge fan of DC, Marvel and Star Wars btw).

I took some character traits from each character and kind of mashed them together to create a new villain. He went through various iterations and rewrites and re-characterizations before I settled on the name Major Kane. It took me quite a few drafts, but I finally settled his entire character arc, goals and his big plan for his quest, and I gotta admit, I'm pretty proud of creating my first villain. So I decided to start my first chapter with a bang, by introducing this big military man into the world of our protagonists, starting with pitting him against Moana and Maui. I hope that I delivered for my first chapter, and stay tuned for more :)


	2. Chapter 2: The Princess Returns

Chapter Two

The Princess Returns

The archer planted her feet securely on the concrete at shoulder width apart and lined up her feet parallel to her shooting line. She rotated on the balls of her feet so that she was positioned in an open stance, improving her stability. Straightening her slender frame, she rotated her chin towards her right shoulder as she lifted her bow and drew back the arrow slowly. Her eyes narrowed to see better in the blinding sunlight as she breathed calmly, her fingers releasing the grip on the string. The arrow flew for what seemed like forever, and finally found its mark on the bullseye.

Melody relaxed, putting down the bow, and walked over to the target board to retrieve her arrow, to thunderous applause from her classmates, who were watching her by the benches.

"Nice shot, Princess!" one of her classmates called out.

Melody pulled her arrow from the target board and glanced at her classmate in annoyance. "This isn't royalty class. You know I hate being called that."

"Nice work, Melody," the instructor called out. "Time's up, that's all for archery class this semester. Don't forget to practice during your break!" the students let out a victory cheer and began to head out of the stadium where their archery class was being held.

"Come on, Melody, let's go." One of her friends called out.

Melody grinned. "Alright. Let's get out of here." Melody disassembled the limbs of her bow and placed it in her duffle bag together with her quiver, and zipped the bag. She absolutely loved her bow. It was a black Martin Saber take-down recurve bow, which she had chosen to fit her archery style. Over the past six years, she had developed a love for archery and close quarter combat, and had taken various electives for those fields. She had skilled teachers at Copenhagen High who put her through gruelling training to get her to where she was now.

Her parents had sent her to Copenhagen High when she turned thirteen, and for the next five years, she had spent most of her time away from her one true love: the sea. Of course, she had gotten her fill sneaking away from the residential college to swim in the pool on certain nights when she wasn't swamped with school assignments, but it just wasn't the same as swimming in the ocean. Now that it was summer vacation, she could return home and spend her time in the ocean for days on end.

###

"So what are you going to do over the holidays?" Melody looked up from her food. "I don't know, really. I've been wanting to do something exciting but I don't know what yet." She replied, just as the teenagers in the cafeteria began to crowd around the window and started to point at something, Melody feared the worst. She squeezed into the crowd and glanced out the window. _Great. He just had to announce it to the entire school. _She hurried back to her table and grabbed her belongings. "My ride's here. See you guys in five weeks time!" Melody waved goodbye to her friends as she hastily ran out of the cafeteria.

Melody rushed down the stairs and pushed open the door of the school building to see a lanky and impeccably dressed elderly man waiting for her by a grand horse carriage.

"Good to see you again, Princess Melody." He said in a strong english accent, opening the carriage door for her.

"Hey, Grimsby!" Melody exclaimed shortly, diving into the carriage quickly before anyone around the campus could spot her with a valet and a horse carriage that looked like it belonged to the royal family of Denmark. It did, and she didn't need that kind of attention.

Grimsby closed the door and mounted the horse. As the carriage pulled away from Copenhagen High, Melody resurfaced from hiding below the windows and slouched in the comfy backseat of the carriage.

Grimsby glanced behind in amusement. "Interesting fashion choice, my dear."

Melody was clad in an olive green shirt, dark grey pants and comfortable sneakers. She grinned. She knew that her family wanted her to wear proper princess outfits more often, but she hated drawing attention to herself. Besides, normal civilian clothes were much more comfortable and appealing to her. They were what school students wore, after all, and she just wanted to blend in.

"I'm fairly certain that is not what your parents expected for your coming home party."

"Aww, come on. Let me live a little." Melody chuckled. Good old Grimsby, he was always so prim and proper about everything. Melody liked him, but he had a rigid mindset that was so irritating at times. _Wait, coming home party?!_ Melody groaned. She had completely forgotten about that. _What a stupid tradition!_ She hated parties, especially after her twelfth birthday party six years ago. _Who could ever forget that?_ She had made a complete mockery of herself, what with her accidentally tying her guardian Sebastian to her dress and him being chased all over the ballroom by the mad chef.

Melody shuddered. All that happened six years ago, but the painful memory was still seared in her mind as if it were yesterday. She had never felt more humiliated and awkward in her life than at that party. And every time a party was held for her, she felt like all those memories were being dredged up again.

Before she knew it, the one horse cab had pulled up to the front gate of the kingdom. The guards at the gate bowed and opened the gate. As she travelled through the kingdom towards the palace, Melody looked out the window. _Home sweet home._ The streets were bustling with merchants, the children played in the market place and couples were riding in less grand horse carriages. The kingdom looked to be prospering. Melody swelled with pride at the fact that her parents had been so successful at governing the kingdom.

###

At the top of the palace steps leading to the door of the palace, King Eric waited patiently. He glanced at the road stretching out across the kingdom, wondering when his daughter would arrive. He missed Melody so much. The last few years had been tough, since she spent most of the time stuck in Copenhagen High, returning for the holidays a month at a time. It was a necessary evil, as he wanted her to experience a different environment and learn new skills. However, he never expected his daughter to pick up archery and close-quarter combat. She had certainly grown over the past few years into a brave young woman, and even though he was not fully supportive of her new hobbies, he was proud of her. He knew for sure what she would do when she arrived back home though. The first thing she would do was to head to the ocean. That was the one thing that never changed: Her love for the water.

"Dad!"

Eric was jolted out of his thoughts, and saw that Melody had arrived and was running up the palace steps to meet him.

She reached the top of the stairs and hurled herself against her father.

Eric hugged her tightly. He gazed at his daughter lovingly. She had his big aqua blue eyes and his luscious black hair. He noticed that she had curled her hair a little. _That was new. _"Welcome back, Melody. I've missed you so much. I like your hair."

Melody smiled and released her tight grip around his waist and looked up at her father. "I've missed you too. Where's Mom?"

Eric ran his hand through her hair. "She's down in Atlantica. She knew you were coming back today and told me to give you a kiss for her." _He missed his wife Ariel too._ She had agreed to help her father, King Triton, run things temporarily while he took a long overdue break, and had to spend most of her time down in Atlantica attending to kingdom matters. Ariel came up to the surface every once in a while when she could afford the time, but it just wasn't the same, being separated from his wife like that. He sighed, and kissed Melody's forehead. "Come on, everyone is waiting for you inside. We're going to have a wonderful party."

###

Melody burst out of the palace's back entrance, kicking off her sneakers. _Finally!_ She thought the party would never end. _Those had to be the longest 3 hours of her entire life!_ She dashed across the beach, wearing a white tank top and shorts, her favourite golden locket necklace with her name engraved on it hanging from her neck at chest level. Her bare feet were scorched by the hot sand on the beach, but she didn't care. Melody reached the water and took a huge leap, diving into the cool water. _At last. Back where she belonged. In the sea._ Nostalgia swept over her as she laid on her back, floating on the waves. _Oh, how she had waited for this moment for months._ It was something that she could never explain to anyone. She had tried, and all she got were either weird stares or polite laughs. She had resigned to the fact that it was something unexplainable, and that it was hers to enjoy and hers alone.

Looking around to make sure no one else was around, Melody took the locket in her hand. This necklace was incredibly precious to her. Sure, she had other sea shells and trinkets, but this one was special. She had found it on her twelfth birthday in one of the deep crevices of the ocean, and it had her name engraved on it. Melody glanced around again, double checking to make sure no one was watching her.

_No one could know about this. Not yet, anyhow._ She tightened her grip on the necklace, and closed her eyes. The necklace glowed golden, its rays shining through the gaps between her fingers. The golden aura seeped through the gaps and started to envelope her. The golden aura shined brighter until it became a blinding light, engulfing Melody completely. Slowly, the light began to fade away, revealing Melody, whose legs had been replaced by a salmon-pink mermaid tail! The necklace was a gift from her grandfather, who had modified the necklace to transform her into a mermaid and back again at will. Melody plunged below the surface without hesitation, diving deep, using her tail to propel her like a torpedo cutting through the water.

_Next stop, Atlantica!_ _Oh, how she had missed this sensation!_ She had been practicing the transformation in the school's pool at night when no one was around, and she had been getting the hang of it. It was always a struggle to adjust between breathing oxygen as a human, and breathing in oxygenated water as a mermaid, but she more or less had it nailed down. However, the only bad thing about transforming into a mermaid was her constant reminder of the first time it happened.

It was a long time ago. The sea witch, Morgana, had tricked Melody into believing that she genuinely wanted to help her, and after turning her into a mermaid temporarily, Morgana had gained her sympathy and had her believe that the trident was stolen from her. After Melody had risked life and limb to help Morgana steal the trident back from the kingdom of Atlantica, Morgana revealed her true colours and incited the takeover of the Seven Seas. In trusting Morgana, she had almost drowned when she transformed back into a human, but she was saved by her heroic friends, Tip and Dash. She had eventually managed to steal the trident back from Morgana and end the evil sea witch's reign, but the entire debacle had stuck with her.

_Come to think of it, it was even worse than her tragic birthday party. Sure, the party was horrible but she didn't cause it to go off the rails, but the Takeover of the Seven Seas? That was her fault. And the guilt had stuck with her ever since._ People looked at her differently, knowing that she had innocently been the catalyst to the entire incident. And she hated that people looked at her with sympathy. Melody did not want the Takeover of the Seven Seas to be her legacy. Eventually, when she would have to succeed her parents as Queen of Denmark, she knew she would have to forge a different legacy for herself, one that overshadowed her part in the Morgana's plan.

By this time, Melody had reached the edge of Atlantica. She stopped to take in the sight. The kingdom was truly magnificent and a sight to behold. _What a beautiful paradise!_ She wished she could live in Atlantica permanently as a mermaid, but it was not meant to be. She had to settle with visiting whenever she could. _Which wasn't very often._

With a powerful flick of her tail, she propelled herself forward past the open gates of the kingdom. Mer-children were playing in the courtyard and fishes swam freely across the seabed without any fear of danger. Mer-soldiers were posted at key installations and the edges of Atlantica to protect the kingdom from potential attacks. It was a peaceful and safe place to live in. As Melody swam past the guards to enter the royal palace, they bowed.

"Your Highness, welcome back to Atlantica. May we escort you into the palace?" one of the guards asked.

"It's alright, no shark's gonna eat me on the way in." Melody smiled politely and waved as she swam into the royal palace. Entering into the palace court, Melody gazed at its beauty. It was even more stunning than she had remembered. The huge pillars were made out of solid slabs of gold, and chandeliers dangled from the high ceiling. A wide and long purple carpet lay on the seabed leading to the throne, and upon the throne sat her mother, Ariel, who was speaking with several dignitaries with a worried look on her face.

Melody waited patiently by one of the pillars near the entrance of the court, and after what seemed like forever, the dignitaries solemnly bowed and swam towards the exit. They bowed before Melody as well, and she bowed back, before remembering that as royalty she didn't need to bow-but oh who cared! Now that school was behind her, so were royal etiquette classes. She swam speedily up to Ariel, who attempted to conceal her distress, reaching out to her with open arms.

"I've missed you Mom!" Melody hugged her mother tightly and Ariel gasped for breath.

"Easy, Melody! I've just had a heavy lunch!" Melody released her grip and Ariel smiled fondly at her daughter. "Welcome home. Love your hair."

"Thanks Mom. What's wrong? You seemed worried."

Ariel smiled, attempting to hide her worry. "Nothing's wrong! I've just been so busy. I don't know how your grandfather did it for so many years. No wonder his hair grew white so fast!" she slumped back on the throne. "Council members petitioning to open up our borders, the military general requesting for me to vet deterrence strategies, merfolk coming to ask me to use the trident to heal their sick…the list goes on and on! I barely have time to go up to the surface to spend time with your dad."

Melody sighed. _Her dad always made it seem so effortless! Maybe he was tired out too, but just didn't show it. _Either way, Melody knew that eventually, this would be her life too when she became Queen of Denmark. "Speaking of grandfather, where is he?" Melody asked.

"Oh, your grandfather took a trip down south out of Atlantica, and so did Sebastian. They both needed a break from Atlantica, and wanted to go far away to relax for a couple of weeks." Ariel chuckled.

Melody was surprised. She never thought that Grandfather Triton would ever get tired of ruling Atlantica and take a break. He had always seemed so fit and tireless. She had always assumed that he would be King his entire life, and that it was his only mission. Well, she guessed wrong! While she was happy that her grandfather and Sebastian were out taking a break and living their own lives away from the throne, she was disappointed that she would not get the chance to reunite with them. Over the past few years, she didn't get to spend much time with her old pals Titanic Tip and Daring Dash either, as they had returned to the North Pole where they lived. It was way too warm in the waters of Denmark for them. She made a mental note to take a few days to swim down to the North Pole and pay them a little visit.

"Where are the aunts?" Melody asked. "Aren't they around to help run the kingdom?"

"They're terribly busy in the other kingdoms. You know they all married into different kingdoms across the ocean."

"Right. All except you." Melody grinned.

"Right. Let's get out of here and take a swim at the edge of the kingdom." Ariel slipped her hand into Melody's and pulled her out of the court.

As they left the court, Ariel looked back at the throne with relief that she could finally get away from it, even if it was for a while. Mother and daughter swam hand in hand to the border of Atlantica, looking out into the vast ocean beyond. The soldiers positioned at the border doubled to ensure the two members of the royal family were kept safe.

"Where do you think Grandfather is?" Melody asked, staring out into the great unknown.

"Honestly, I don't know. But I know that he's finally happy to take a break." Ariel smiled.

The two continued to chat, discussing Melody's life at school and the various things she had learnt in archery and combat lessons, until finally Melody felt that it was time for her to go and let her mother get back to her duties. The only thing left to check off her list to make her day perfect was to return to the surface and float on the water while watching the sunset. She hugged her mother goodbye and swam back up to the surface.

With a powerful flick of her tail, she shot through the surface of the water into the air, and as she hurtled through the air above the water, she grasped her locket in her hand. It glowed golden, engulfing her, and before she hit the water below, she had transformed back into a human! She dived headfirst back into the water, and emerged, taking a huge gulp of air. Melody laid back on the surface of the water, looking up into the sky. The sun was starting to set. Rays of the yellow sunlight burst through the clouds, and she closed her eyes.

"Squakk!"

Melody opened her eyes. Up in the sky, she saw the faint figure of a bird flapping furiously. _Maybe it was Scuttle the seagull. Wait, it couldn't be. Scuttle was white. The bird in the sky was brown and looked abnormally huge._ As it came closer, Melody squinted. _It was a hawk!_ _And it was making a beeline straight towards her!_ Melody scrambled to get out of the way, as the hawk plummeted from the sky and hit the water at such velocity that it sank below the surface for a good five seconds before its limp body floated to the surface.

Having gotten out of the way in the nick of time, Melody swam over to the fallen creature speedily, concerned for its wellbeing. Right before her eyes, the brown hawk started to shape-shift, and changed into the form of a human. Melody couldn't believe what she was seeing! _Were her eyes playing tricks on her? _She touched the shapeshifter gently, hoping that he was still alive.

The shapeshifter stirred briefly and his eyes fluttered open, flinching at her touch.

She could barely make out what he said as he insufferably uttered a few words before passing out again. "T-The Major… It has begun…"


	3. Chapter 3: Redemption's Open Door

Red / THE MAJOR'S QUEST / 17

Chapter Three

Redemption's Open Door

Maui weakly opened his eyes and sat up, looking around the room. Everything was a blur, but soon his vision became clear, and he could make out where he was. The room was large, the walls were lined with gold, and he was lying in a queen sized bed. _His hook! _He turned to his left and saw his fish hook lying on a table beside him, and heaved a sigh of relief. _He thought he had lost his fish hook!_

"How are you feeling?"

Maui's head whipped to the right to see a girl sitting in the corner of the room patiently. He was surprised and a little impressed. She had been so still that he had not sensed her presence in the slightest. _Maybe he was still feeling a little wonky._ "Who are you?" Maui asked, hazy about the circumstances of his arrival in this strange place.

The girl got up from her seat and walked closer to the bed, sitting at the edge. "My name is Melody, I saw you crash into the water. You flew in as a hawk, but then you shape-shifted into a man and passed out. The doctors that attended to you couldn't seem to pierce your skin with any syringe, and had no choice but to hope that you would recover on your own. How are you feeling?"

_Now things were beginning to get clearer._ He remembered flying across the ocean on pure instinct, not really knowing where he was going, and then exhaustion got to him. He wasn't sure whether he had reached his destination, but if he was right, the prophecy had led him right to this girl. He looked at Melody. She was slender, had ivory skin and looked incredibly young. _By the looks of it, still a teenager. Was this the right girl?_ She didn't exactly seem like the warrior princess that he was looking for, but then again, how could he judge her based solely on her appearance? _Maybe she was the one he was looking for._ "I'm fine. My body heals itself naturally. I'm a demigod, after all. But thank you for your help, nonetheless." He smiled at Melody proudly.

Melody looked at the self-proclaimed demigod. He did seem less banged up than when she had found him in the ocean a few hours ago. Upon seeing him crash into the water, she had sprinted back to the palace to get help, and it took several soldiers to drag the huge man out of the water, as they could not lift him. They had eventually managed to get him on a gurney and wheeled him across the beach and into the palace.

Since she was the one who found him, she felt that it was her responsibility to watch over him till he woke up. She found herself admiring the man's huge and muscular physique for far too long and snapped herself out of it. "Demigod? Wha-who are you?" Melody asked, curious to know more about the shapeshifter.

Maui was perturbed. _She didn't know who he was?_ "I am Maui, the shapeshifting demigod! Surely you've heard of me? Folk hero? Legendary warrior?"

Melody seemed even more puzzled, shaking her head in confusion.

"No? How could you not know? I'm famous!" Maui insisted, bewildered. "Polynesian mythology, hello? Wait, which part of the world are we in anyway?"

Melody stifled a giggle. This "demigod" was certainly amusing. "We're in Denmark, in my father's palace."

Maui ran his hand through his thick curly hair. "You're a princess?"

Melody nodded hesitantly, somewhat reluctant to admit the fact.

Maui stood up from the bed, confused. _Was she really the one he was looking for? This girl was a princess, not a warrior! _But something told him that she was the one in the prophecy: the heroine from Denmark who would challenge the Major alongside other warriors. He guessed he had to take a leap of faith. "Princess Melody-" he began.

"Melody is fine."

Maui cleared his throat. "Right. I've come from far away to seek you out. The world's safety has just been challenged by a man. A monster. And I need your help to stop him." _That sounded a lot better in his head._ He held his breath, hoping that her response would reveal whether she was the right one.

At that moment, a couple of armed soldiers burst into the room, two ushering an indignant Melody out the door while the rest trained their weapons on Maui.

"We have the target." The section commander called out. "Lace your fingers behind your head."

Maui, knowing fully well that he could take the soldiers out singlehandedly, complied, lacing his fingers and placing them behind his head calmly.

"Safe. Usher the king in."

In walked King Eric, escorted by a soldier. "Stand down. Leave us." Eric ordered, signalling for the soldiers to lower their weapons.

"But your Majesty, it's not safe."

"It'll be alright. Leave now. That's an order."

The soldiers looked at each other in bewilderment, before vacating the room.

Eric looked at Maui. "At ease. I am King Eric of Denmark, and I'm just here to ask you a few questions."

Maui relaxed, leaning back against the backing of the bed. "Ah, you're the ruler of this land."

Eric nodded.

"I'm Maui, the shapeshifting demigod." Maui proclaimed proudly, certain that this king would have heard of him.

"Now I've seen and heard many weird things, my wife is a mermaid queen ruling an underwater kingdom below us, so believe me when I say that I'm not exactly surprised," Eric smiled. "But I haven't heard of you before."

Maui's heart sank. _Come on! Did no one know who he was? Gahh! What did a demigod have to do to be known these days?_

"As the King of Denmark, it is my responsibility to protect my kingdom, so it is my duty to ask you: where have you come from, and what are your intentions here?" Eric inquired, staring straight into the eyes of the man before him.

Maui looked at Eric._ If Melody was the princess, this King Eric had to be her father._ It wouldn't be wise to tell Melody's father straight up that he had come to ask her to join his quest in bringing down an evil warlord. But that is exactly what he had come to Denmark for. Time was running out, the Major could be making his next big move at any moment. _He didn't really have much of a choice, now did he?_

###

Melody stood outside the room, slouching against the wall. She hated that the soldiers had burst in and pushed her out just when Maui was telling her something important. Her father really had the poorest timing, choosing to come in at that moment. He simply couldn't see past the fact that she was no longer a 12 year old girl that needed protection from everything. He thought that she was in danger, but she really wasn't! As far as she could tell, Maui wasn't going to hurt her. He seemed nice and friendly. Maybe a little boastful, but he wasn't dangerous. He certainly wasn't an ordinary man though, she had seen his shapeshifting abilities. He was most likely who he said he was: a demigod.

And that mission that Maui was telling her about? It sounded like the perfect opportunity to her. Melody had been desperately looking for a shot at redemption for six years ever since she played a part in the Morgana's Takeover, and now Maui had presented it to her, literally crashing into the ocean to drop this chance right at her feet! Sure, it did seem daunting and a little bit out of her league, but she was sure that this was going to be her only shot at redeeming herself. Not only in the people's eyes, but in her own. _Where else would she get an opportunity like that? _She had made up her mind about it. She was going to help Maui. This was redemption's open door for her.

At that moment, her father burst out of the room, his face red, seething with rage. "Guards! Take him to the tower! See to it that a trial is arranged! Demigod, my-" he paused, realizing that his daughter was looking at him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Dad? What's going on?"

Eric ran his hand through his hair, trying to compose himself. "The intruder. He claimed to be a demigod on some special mission to seek out the world's warriors. And he said he was looking for you." His face started to turn red again. "What rubbish! He's obviously some sort of special agent sent to Denmark to try to destabilize our kingdom's infrastructure or something similarly sinister. Or worse, to assassinate our family! If he wanted to lie, he could at least try to be realistic."

A couple of soldiers rushed into the room and a moment later, Maui was dragged out in chains. Maui looked at Melody confidently and nodded slightly, as if to tell her to make her decision soon.

Eric put his arm in front of his daughter, attempting to shield her from the intruder. "Melody, stay far away from the prisoner. He's dangerous, and I don't want you getting hurt," Eric's eyes softened as he looked at Melody. "I'm sorry this had to happen when you just returned home. I need to be sure that you're safe." He stroked her cheek and walked away, following behind the soldiers to ensure that the prisoner was locked up securely in the prison tower.

###

Various weapons, equipment and basic necessities were laid out on the bed. Melody placed several items into a light brown backpack, and stuck her pocket knife into the pocket of her jeans. She had tied her hair back into a ponytail and had changed into a white tank top with a quia green leather bomber jacket, black jeans and a pair of high cut black boots. She looked out of her bedroom window. The moon would occasionally duck behind the clouds and render the sky pitch black, which would give her perfect cover out there. Now would be the best time for her to make her move, in the wee hours of the morning.

_Was this everything? Food, water, what else was she missing? Oh, she had almost forgotten._ Looking over to her desk by the window, she spotted her bag of trinkets. She walked over to it. Inside were the sea shells and other treasures she had found over the years when she explored the ocean. She picked up her special locket necklace and put it around her neck. She would have to take extra care to make sure it remained intact on her mission, especially since she predicted that she might use it on her journey. _One last thing._

Melody turned away from the desk, her eyes glancing to below her bed where a dark brown wooden trunk lay. She stooped down and opened it. Inside the trunk was her black take-down recurve bow, with a detachable quiver mounted securely on the bow's limbs. Inside the quiver were numerous small diameter arrows that were black and sleek. She took the bow and quiver out from the trunk. _This would be her perfect weapon when she was out there in battle. Now she was ready. _

Fortunately, the tower where Maui was being held wasn't too far away, on the other side of the beach where Melody could run to it. It took her about fifteen minutes to reach the tower, which was being heavily guarded. Melody was extra cautious when she arrived near the tower to not be seen by the guards, since her father had given strict orders for her not to be let anywhere near Maui. She would get in huge trouble if she was caught.

Hiding behind the palm trees, Melody surveyed the area and looked for a way in. She looked up. She knew that Maui was being held right at the top of the tower, which was a spot reserved for the most dangerous criminals. Her father would have given orders to incarcerate Maui there based on his assumption that he was a spy or assassin, and also to keep her safe. There was a large opening near the top of the tower where two snipers were positioned by the parapet to catch any fleeing prisoners. Even if she could get up there, the snipers would spot her. Thankfully, the moon was hidden behind the clouds most of the time, so it was impossible for the snipers to see her poised behind the palm trees. There was only one thing for her to do. And she had to do it quick.

Taking out the disassembled recurve bow from her backpack, she quickly pieced it together. She selected a special arrow from her quiver and looked at it. It had a small tube attached to the tip of the arrow, and inside the tube was a colourless liquid. _Yes, this was the right arrow._ Melody placed the arrow in the nocking point of the bow, and drew it back. Aiming high at the opening and calculating the effect that the gravitational pull would have on the trajectory, she compensated and adjusted her angle. She checked to make sure that the snipers were spaced far enough from each other so that she wouldn't hit one of them accidentally, because she only had one shot, so she had to make it count. If she missed, the snipers would be alerted to her presence and sound the alarm, triggering a lockdown of the entire tower. If that happened, there would be no way for her to get to Maui. _No pressure._

She made sure her breathing was constant and calm, before she let the arrow fly. The arrow soared into the air and through the opening, landing on the ground in between the two snipers. The tube broke on impact and a colourless gas escaped into air. The effect was almost immediate, and the snipers choked, gasping for air. After a brief struggle, they collapsed to the ground unconscious.

Melody waited for a few minutes until she was sure that the snipers had been knocked cold, before running quietly to the base of the tower. She took another special arrow from the quiver and nocked it. Drawing back her bow, she aimed at the opening again. She released the bow string, and the arrow flew with a cable attached to it. It was a grappling arrow with a hook at the end, which utilized the bow as an automatic pulley system. The arrow found its mark, and as Melody jerked the bow, the arrow's grapple hooked onto the side of the tower's balcony, anchoring itself securely. She then used the bow to recoil the cable like a pulley system, lifting herself up into the air and scaling the tower at a steady pace.

Climbing up and over the side of the tower and through the opening in the wall, Melody put the grappling arrow back into her quiver and looked at the dark passage in front of her. A stairwell connected to the end of the passage, and she walked towards it. She had no idea if there were more guards around, as this was her first time in the prison. Shuddering, she walked past a couple of locked doors. _This place creeped her out._ As she reached the end of the passage, she looked down at the stairwell. It was a long way down. She looked up. There was only a couple more flights of stairs to the top of the tower. _Good. _She climbed the stairs quietly like a cat, being extra careful not to make any noise.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Melody crouched down, hiding behind a pillar. Out in front of her stretched a long dark hallway, and at the end, a single steel door.

Two guards stood outside the door talking. One held up their prisoner's hook weapon in both hands, and the other was trying to read the engravings on it.

She wasn't going to risk being spotted by them. Everyone in the kingdom knew her, and if she showed her face, it would be game over for her. She had to come up with a different plan. _Knockout gas?_ She only had one tube left, and she wasn't about to hurt her father's soldiers_._ She prepared herself, aimed at the steel door between both guards, and let fly. The arrow smashed against the steel door, shattering the tube, and the guards unwittingly inhaled the gas. They fell to the ground, unconscious like the other guards before them.

Running through the dark hallway, Melody reached the fallen guards. They had dropped Maui's hook weapon that they were entertaining themselves with to pass time. She crouched down, searching them for the keys. _Please, they had to have the keys on them. If not, her rescue attempt was in vain. _A feeling of dread swept over her as she considered the fact that they might not be carrying the keys to the cell on them._ Ah! There were the keys!_ Relieved, she took the keys from the guard and inserted various keys into the lock until the right one clicked. Picking up Maui's fish hook, she grunted as she realised how heavy it was. With her shoulder, she pushed open the steel door and walked in.

There on the bed lay Maui, fully awake, with his hands behind his head, smiling as if he had been expecting her. "Hello again, Princess. Took you long enough." Maui boomed.

"Shushhh!" Melody hissed, shooting her head over her shoulder to see if anyone heard him. She passed the heavy weapon to Maui, glad to get it off her hands. "How did you know I was coming?"

Maui beamed, standing up with his fish hook in hand. "I didn't, really. I wasn't even sure if you were the one I was looking for, but you've just proven yourself. If you weren't the one, then why would you come to my rescue? Speaking of which…" Maui curled his enormous hand into a fist and punched the stone wall. It crumbled, revealing a large hole facing the ocean. "I could have escaped at any time. I was just waiting for you, Princess!"

"Melody." She reminded him, slightly annoyed. "This quest you spoke of, you said you needed my help to stop some attack?"

Maui nodded, resting the fish hook against his shoulder.

"Why me?"

"The prophecy say so. The great Maui rarely needs help, but this time, I can't do it alone. I need you and a few others to stop the man called Major Kane from achieving his goal."

Just as Maui finished his sentence, shouts could be heard from down the passage, and Melody spun around, her worst fears realized. Light could be seen coming from the stairwell, which meant that guards were headed their way! The next detail of snipers must have come to replace the ones on duty, only to find them unconscious from a vial of knockout gas. Melody wanted to kick herself, wishing she had taken more time to study the guards' schedules in detail before embarking on this rescue mission.

"Come on, Maui, you said you're a demigod right? Now's a great time to shape-shift into a brown hawk and fly us out of here!"

Maui smiled. _Finally someone around here believed him!_ "Say no more!" In a flash of light, Maui transformed himself into a brown hawk and used his claws to hold onto Melody's shoulders gently. He lifted the both of them out of the tower and let out a loud victory screech, just as the guards burst into the room to see a brown hawk carrying the princess away from Denmark and across the ocean.

"Where to next?" Melody asked, looking down at the ocean far beneath her feet. She flinched and closed her eyes, immediately regretting her decision to let Maui fly her out of the tower.

Maui noticed her twitch and let out a hearty laugh. "Norway! We will find the next warrior for our little alliance in the bustling kingdom of Arendelle!"

Writer's Commentary:

This chapter was amusing to write, as it brings together two very different characters: Princess Melody and Maui the demigod. I'm totally in love with the character of Maui, who was played by Dwayne Johnson, the Rock, in the 2016 movie Moana. I thought it would be an awesome challenge to write how these two characters would gel together in the same room.

Maui reveals that he's travelled across the world to find a warrior, who we know is our protagonist Melody, from reading the previous chapter which was solely focused on her. I wanted him to be the one who presents her with the big break she's been looking for, a chance to save the world and redeem herself in the process. Maui represents that the world Melody lives in is bigger than just Denmark, Auradon, Atlantica, sea witches and merpeople, and that there is a whole lot of danger and adventure out there that's waiting for her.

I had a great time writing Melody in action with her bow and arrows, breaking into the prison to free Maui. This gave me a chance to showcase her badassery and how much she has grown into a strong and feisty teenager over the last 5 years. The last few paragraphs also serve as the first major plot point in the story, where our protagonist answers the call to adventure and flies off into the night with her new mystical friend.

Can't wait to see yall in the next chapter! Stay stoked!


	4. Chapter 4: The Snow Queen

Chapter Four

The Snow Queen

The wind slapped against Melody's face violently, causing her to stir from her slumber. It was bright and sunny already. She must have fallen asleep shortly after their escape from the prison tower. Not remembering where she was, she looked around. _Clouds?_ She looked down. _Oh!_ Now she remembered. She felt like she was going to be sick.

"Don't throw up just yet, Princess!" Maui chortled, flapping his wings steadily.

"Norway, huh? So we're looking for a member of another royal family?" Melody asked sarcastically.

"As a matter of fact, yeah. She happens to be the Queen of Arendelle."

Melody looked up at Maui in disbelief."No way! The fabled Snow Queen? Queen Elsa?"

Maui looked down at his shocked passenger. "You sound like you know the Queen."

"I don't, but everyone's heard of how Queen Elsa froze her own kingdom by accident! Everyone's been talking about it in school."

Maui looked up, dodging a hot air balloon in the nick of time. "Looks like that tale has spread across the world pretty quick."

News about "The Great Freeze" had spread across the various kingdoms and countries like wildfire, and it had been the hottest topic of discussion in Copenhagen High. Melody had heard so much about Queen Elsa, and had been so intrigued by the fact that magic like that existed. Sure, she knew that magic existed, but she had never heard of powers like Queen Elsa's. Melody had so many questions about the Queen's icy powers, and couldn't wait to meet the Snow Queen in person.

"Wait, school?" Maui looked at Melody in horror. "What are you, fifteen?"

"Eighteen!" Melody protested indignantly.

"I can't believe I'm taking a teenager with me to fight the Major." Maui mused to himself in disbelief.

"Now about this Major. Tell me more." Melody wanted to know everything she could about this monster she had to face eventually.

"Honestly, nobody knows much about the guy," Maui began. "A thousand years ago, when I was a child, the gods that raised me told me a tale- nah, a prophecy, about an evil man who would rise from the darkness to embark on a quest to destroy the world. No one knows why. But the prophecy begins by telling that he would arrive with an army and destroy a village to gain a totem." Maui sighed, remembering Motunui's fall. "By this time I had forgotten all about the prophecy and thought it rubbish, but then two nights ago I watched as a man who called himself Major Kane tear the village apart to get the totem right before my very eyes, and knew that the day had finally come. It was Kane that wounded me so badly. I've never been challenged like that before. And it was my best friend Moana that stalled him while I flew away from the island to get help."

Melody took a few moments to absorb all the information. "I'm sorry about your village. But why aren't we headed back to Motunui for your friend?"

Maui shuddered. "There's no way we can take the Major head on. We're gonna need to level the playing field with more on our side. And besides, the prophecy has foretold that a tribal chief will stand by our side in our fight against the Major. That's got to be Moana, who else? So she can't be dead."

Melody found it hard to believe everything she was hearing, but after everything she had seen when she encountered Morgana six years back, she knew it wasn't impossible. _But prophecies? Eco-terrorists? This was on a whole new level._ "So…does your prophecy tell us if we win?" Melody inquired hopefully.

Maui shook his head. "No. It stops at telling us that an alliance of warriors will rise to challenge Major Kane. But nothing more. I wish it did."

Melody sighed in exasperation. _How convenient._ She wasn't one to believe in fate or predestination, but this time, she would take whatever she could when it came to facing this Major Kane.

Maui exclaimed, almost releasing Melody from his grip. "Look, Princess! It's Arendelle!" He swooped down through the clouds towards the ground at a remarkably quick speed.

"Woah, slow down! You're gonna get us killed!" Melody shrieked, clutching her head in her hands.

Just as Maui and Melody were about to collide with the ground, Maui pulled up and soared gracefully, letting the wind carry them like a parachute as they descended gently into a nearby forest. Landing, Maui released his grip on Melody.

She rubbed her shoulders, wincing in pain. Fortunately, she had decided to wear a leather jacket that provided her shoulders some protection. Maui had tightened his grip on her shoulders unconsciously when he got excited during their conversations, and he couldn't hear her complaining over the wind and his own loud voice. She moved her arms around, trying to get the blood flowing and some feeling back into her shoulders. _Ugh. She was never hitching a ride with Maui ever again!_

"Come on, Princess. It's time to go find this Snow Queen." Maui started to waltz out of the forest, humming a catchy tune.

"Hang on! You can't just show up to the royal palace dressed like that!" Melody pointed to Maui's skirt made of palm leaves, chuckling, and Maui looked down at his skirt with a puzzled look on his face. "You're just gonna get yourself thrown in jail again! Here's the plan…"

###

Sauntering through the large garden outside Arendelle's palace, Princess Anna plucked a bright red apple from a tree and munched on it, looking up at the beautiful sky. The sun shone through the big blue sky and the heat made the air feel warm and cozy. Inhaling deeply with a wide smile on her face, Anna enjoyed a long breath of fresh air. She inhaled the warm air a little too deeply and the air swelled in her lungs, causing her to cough and sputter. Ever since the gates of the palace were opened permanently, she could not get enough of the outside world. She only wished her friends and sister were present to enjoy it together with her. Kristoff and his reindeer Sven were busy planning to set up a business in the busy town square, and Olaf the snowman had pitched in to help them. As for her sister Elsa, that was a entirely different story.

"Princess Anna, someone's here to see you."

Anna turned to see a girl on a brown horse outside the gates of the garden, escorted by a couple of soldiers from the Queen's Guard.

"Hello there! I am Princess Melody from the kingdom of Denmark!" the girl called out from behind the gates across the garden.

Anna walked towards the gate, signalling to the soldiers that she would be fine on her own and that they could leave. "Hello, my name's Anna! What can I do for you?" Anna replied cheerfully, taking another bite from her apple and opening the garden gate with her other hand to let them in.

Melody looked at her host. Anna seemed to be about the same age as her, and had turquoise blue eyes that were soft and kind. Her long strawberry blonde hair was tied into two pigtails and thrown over her shoulders. She also had a light dusting of freckles on her rosy cheeks, which made her look warm and friendly.

"Let me guess…you're looking for my sister, the Queen?" Anna continued inquisitively.

"That's right." Melody replied, getting off her horse.

"Ah then I guess you haven't heard. Right now, there's a kingdom wide referendum going on, and Elsa's been forced to step down temporarily till the polls are in."

"Wait, why?"

"I'm pretty sure you've heard of how my sister froze Arendelle a few weeks ago?"

Melody nodded. Everyone knew.

"Well, Elsa thawed the kingdom and things went back to normal, but then the royal council began to question whether she was fit to rule since she had been hiding secrets the entire time."

"By secrets, you mean her icy powers." The brown horse chipped in, and Anna jumped in surprise.

_She didn't know that horses could speak!_ _Sure, her friend Olaf was a walking talking snowman, so she shouldn't be surprised, yet she found herself caught off guard when the brown horse Melody was riding on spoke all of a sudden._ Anna looked at Maui, her eyes wide with amazement. "Your horse talks?"

Melody burst into laughter at Anna's reaction when she realized that Maui was still in the form of a horse, leaving Anna bewildered. "Oh no, I'm sorry. It-he's not a horse. I-I don't know how to explain this." She looked over at Maui with tears in her eyes from laughing.

Maui sighed irritably and transformed himself back into the form of a man, still dressed in nothing but his skirt made out of palm leaves, and Anna blushed. "I'm not a horse. My name is Maui, I'm a de-"

"Sorry, Anna, do continue." Melody interrupted, afraid that Maui's true identity would raise too many questions as to why she came to Arendelle to find Elsa.

"Yeah, so one of the members, this horrid man called Chancellor Tobias, came up with 'a brilliant idea' and convinced the council to launch a kingdom wide referendum to allow our people to decide whether they want Elsa to continue ruling as Queen, or be abdicated from the throne. The council came to a consensus that during the referendum which has been going on for the past two weeks, Elsa had to step down till the polls came in."

"Wow, that's harsh." Melody winced.

"Yeah, right?" Anna's tone was indignant.

"Wait, but if Elsa is abdicated, then won't you be next in line to succeed the throne!"

Anna shook her head. "Nope. The council made it clear that if they couldn't trust Elsa, they couldn't trust me either, because I could have been keeping Elsa's secret for years. But sheesh, I only found out the same time everyone else did! But they didn't care to listen. So they're going to choose the next most qualified candidate, which is Tobias. The fox knew it, that's why he initiated this whole thing in the first place. So anyway, my sister decided that she needed some time to process things, and left the palace to be by herself to figure stuff out."

"I'm really sorry about your sister, Anna."

"Yeah, it just feels like it's been one step forward and two steps back with Elsa, you know what I mean?"

Melody nodded sympathetically. She truly felt sorry for the Queen and her sister. What a tough time they have had. "Do you know where she went though? I kind of need to talk to her. It isn't exactly a kingdom matter though, it's personal. And I need Queen Elsa's help."

"Are you sure? When Elsa's in one of her broody moods, I've discovered that it's best to leave her alone. I found out the hard way, ending up with a frozen heart." Anna muttered that last bit to herself.

"I'm sure. There's a lot at stake here, and I really do need to talk to her."

Anna nodded and looked at the snow-peaked mountains in the distance, and the two foreigners turned their heads to look in the same direction. "My sister returned to the North Mountain where she had initially fled to after 'The Great Freeze'. Come on," She motioned for Melody and Maui to follow her inside. "I'll get you some jackets and a map."

###

"Hold on, slow down!" Melody shouted as the wind and snow splashed against her at such a speed that it actually hurt. Maui had taken the form of a brown reindeer and was galloping through the snow to reach the North Mountain where Elsa was holed up. As Melody held on for dear life, she wanted to hit herself for letting Maui carry her again.

"We're here!" Maui screeched, as he jammed his hoofs against the snow in an attempt to slow them down, but instead the impact threw Melody off his back and she catapulted through the air, landing on the soft snow.

She sat up and dusted the snow off her, glaring at Maui.

"It's okay, no need to thank me for the ride. You're welcome, Your Highness." Maui beamed, transforming himself back into his default form.

Melody sighed in annoyance. It was a good thing Anna had given her one of her own cozy green winter jackets from the palace before heading up to the mountains with Maui. It was freezing cold, the perfect place for Queen Elsa to hide out. She only wished that the Snow Queen had picked a friendlier spot, as both Maui and Melody had been chased by a ravenous pack of wolves on their way to the North Mountain.

Maui took out the map that Anna had given them and looked at it. "Hey, I think maybe Anna gave us the wrong map."

Melody snatched the map away from Maui and looked at it. Maui had been reading it upside down. She turned it right side up and squinted at the map. They were right at the foot of the mountain where Anna said Elsa was staying. Melody had asked Anna if she wanted to come along, but she had declined, warning them to be careful since Elsa had been in a rather foul mood when she left. Melody looked up. Sitting on top of the mountain was a huge sanctuary made of ice. _Wow._ She knew that Queen Elsa had powers, but she couldn't have guessed that they were that strong.

"Need a lift?" Maui asked.

Melody immediately shook her head. "No thanks." She knelt down and took out her disassembled bow and quiver from her backpack. She assembled her take-down bow swiftly with muscle memory and attached her quiver to the bow's limbs securely. She removed the grappling arrow from the quiver, then nocked and drew it, aiming at the peak of the mountain, and let fly. The grappling arrow cut through the snow and anchored itself into the side of the mountain, and Melody used the bow as a pulley system to hoist her up to the top of the mountain.

Maui watched in awe as Melody got herself to the peak briskly without his help. _He didn't know she could do that! Maybe she really was the warrior that he had been looking for. _Impressed, Maui took a huge leap, and in a single bound, he landed heavily on the peak, causing the mountain to shake.

"There it is." She pointed to the ice sanctuary that loomed large in front of her and Maui.

"You sure we aren't walking into a trap?" Maui asked, shaking snowflakes out of his long curly hair.

"Nope." Melody replied blankly, walking up the steps made out of ice to the front door of the sanctuary.

Pushing open the icy door of the sanctuary, the friction between the door and the icy floor caused a loud scratching noise. Melody walked into the sanctuary, with Maui brandishing his fish hook beside her, ready for a fight if need be. She looked about at the enormous palace made out of ice. _It was truly magnificent and a sight to behold._ _Queen Elsa must be an extremely talented artist to have created this palace with so much attention to detail. And that wasn't even mentioning her extensive powers and ability to create a structure this large out of pure ice! _

"Stay here. You don't want to scare the Queen with your fish hook." Melody told Maui as they walked into the large and quiet sanctuary, putting her bow and quiver back into her backpack.

Maui walked back towards the entrance reluctantly.

"Queen Elsa?" Melody called out. "Hello? My name is Melody! I'm just here to talk!" Footsteps could be heard from above, and Melody looked up at the second floor.

A figure emerged from the shadows and looked over the balcony. "Did they send you?"A small nervous voice echoed out. As the figure walked down the stairs, it became clear that it was the famous Snow Queen. From afar, Maui sized her up. Queen Elsa was tall and slender, with deep blue eyes, pink rosy cheeks, and a small nose. She had very pale skin with a very light dusting of freckles. Her most prominent feature was her platinum blonde hair, which she wore in a loose french braid that was swept over her left shoulder. She wore a dark blue dress and white kitten heels.

Like Melody, Elsa looked rather young. Nevertheless, she was definitely the one that Maui had been looking for. There could only be one Snow Queen, but she didn't look like a warrior at all._ What was with the prophecy bringing him girls that didn't seem like warriors who could stand against the Major? It all seemed like a bad joke to him. _However, there was something about her that stirred something in him, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"What? No, no one sent me." Melody walked up the stairs to meet her halfway, and amicably reached out a warm hand for a courtesy handshake.

Elsa seemed hesitant at first, before accepting the handshake, careful not to grasp Melody's hand too tightly for fear that she would freeze her by accident. "Then who are you? And what are you doing here? How did you make your way up the North Mountain?"

Melody released the Queen's hand, and the nervous Queen gratefully withdrew it quickly. "I'm a princess from Denmark on a quest, and we-" she pointed at Maui by the entrance, who raised his fish hook genially. "We came a long way to find you in Arendelle, but your sister told us you were up here in the North Mountain."

Elsa broke eye contact with Melody. "I'm sorry to have wasted your time, Princess Melody."

"No, no, it's alright, and you can just call me Melody. I know about the referendum that's going on now in your kingdom. I'm sorry to hear about that."

Elsa turned away, unable to look Melody in the eye. "Don't be. Maybe they're right."

"What?"

"I've had some time to think about everything that has happened, and I've gained some clarity. Arendelle is safer without me ruling it with my icy powers. The people, they pretend not to be afraid in my presence, but I know they fear me for the monster that I am. How can I rule over them when they aren't sure if they can trust me? And what if I accidentally hurt the people I'm supposed to protect?" Elsa shed a solitary tear, which immediately turned into ice before it could trickle down her cheek. She wiped it off her face with her hand and walked to the balcony of her sanctuary.

"My powers are a curse. They can't be used for anything other than hurting people. And so I left. Arendelle deserves better than me."

Melody listened, shocked that Queen Elsa had bottled up so much self-hatred._ It wasn't unlike herself actually._ She had made mistakes and had embarked on this mission to right her wrongs. She hoped that the Snow Queen would see it the same way. "Queen Elsa, I'm sorry. But please hear me out," Melody walked to the balcony where Elsa was looking out over the snow covered horizon at the beautiful sunset. "We came to Arendelle to seek you out because we need your help. We believe that you _can_ use your powers for good, otherwise we wouldn't have taken the effort to come. And since you don't want to return to Arendelle just yet, fine, we're providing you with a way out. We need your help, Queen Elsa."

Elsa paused for a few seconds to think about what Melody had said. She turned around. "Please, call me Elsa."

Writer's Commentary:

Ah, finally. I've come to one of my favourite characters of all time from all the Disney movies. Elsa, the Snow Queen. When I first saw the movie Frozen, I absolutely fell in love with it, and watched it countless times, enchanted by the music, subversion of common tropes, fluid animation, beloved characters, elaborate world building.

I promise, I'm planning a sequel to this novel, so I'll attempt to build on the world of Arendelle and explore more of Elsa's life as well as include Anna as a main character. As for now, I was content with Elsa being one of the warriors that Maui was trying to locate. This novel is being written about 4 months before the movie Frozen 2 is being released, so I have absolutely no idea what's going to happen in that movie. This story takes place chronologically a few months after the events of the first Frozen movie. Just take it that this story takes place in an alternate universe.

As for Elsa, I spent quite a while thinking of what her character arc would be. She had already revealed her powers to the world in the first movie, and by the end of it, she had started to embrace and control it. So, the only natural and logical progression would be for her to discover how to control her powers and learn that they are more than just a curse. I decided to start Elsa off in an emotionally bad place, to help readers sympathise with her. It's like one step forward and two steps back with her like Anna said, and in some way, I think we can all relate to that.

Anyway, as yall have noticed, Anna isn't playing an important role in this story, as there are already other characters planned to appear later. I didn't want to include Anna just to sideline her. If I were going to have her in the story, I would want to do her justice as she is an amazing strong character and one of my favourites that deserves to be written to the best of my abilities. If I do write that sequel, Anna is at the top of my list of new characters to be in the spotlight.

We'll be seeing Major Kane again in the next chapter. Have some cool stuff planned. Till next time!


	5. Chapter 5: The Major's Voyage

Chapter Five

The Major's Voyage / Beneath the Waters

"Sir? You're needed. Sir!"

Kane opened his eyes to see his right hand man standing above him, and stood up. "What is it, Santos?" he asked.

Santos motioned to the bilge that lay at the bottom of the ship. "They're calling for you. They won't stay quiet any longer."

Kane sighed. He wished he didn't have to go down to the bilge, but it seemed that he couldn't avoid it any longer. He grabbed a nearby oil lamp and walked down the rusty steps of the ship that had been corroded by the salty seawater, and into the dark, cold bilge.

He stepped down into the water that sloshed about on the floor of the bilge, which rose to the ankles of his boots. Walking over to the far end of the bilge, the Major could hear voices shouting. He sighed and took a deep breath. "Silence!" he boomed, his voice echoing through the bilge. The voices died down, and he walked closer to where the voices came from. Major Kane lit his oil lamp, and a candle light burned, illuminating the bilge.

Numerous mermen were trapped in cages, crammed and partially submerged in the water through holes created in the bilge floor with nets extending over the holes. Water filled the cages, allowing the merfolk to live underwater while still trapped in the ship.

"Why have you called for me?" Kane asked, hoping that it wouldn't take long. Among the many mermen, one pressed forward through the crowd, and the Major looked at him.

The merman was an elderly one, and had a long white beard, steely eyes, and short hair. He also had a rather impressive and muscular frame for someone his age.

"What is your name?" Kane asked the merman.

"Triton, King of Atlantica."

Immediately, Kane recognized the name. _Triton? The legendary son of Poseidon? He had King Triton from the kingdom of Atlantica trapped on his ship?_ It was almost impossible to believe. Ever since he had started his quest, and even before he had ventured to Motunui, the Major and his mercenaries had been capturing merfolk from the various underwater kingdoms across the ocean as a part of his grand scheme. They had used large nets to ambush the merfolk and reeled them in, and among them, apparently Major Kane had ensnared the fabled King Triton.

"Why have you captured us merfolk? We've done nothing to you. Release us now, before this goes too far." King Triton demanded.

Kane looked at Triton sympathetically. "I'm sorry, I can't do that. I need you all here for a reason. Bear with me, this will all be over soon."

"Reason? What reason?" Triton bellowed. "We deserve to know what's going on!"

"You're in no position to be making demands, Triton." the Major pointed out. "You may be king in your domain, but here on my ship, I'm in charge." The Major turned around, and began to walk away. "Try to make yourselves comfortable, this will all be over soon." He climbed the stairs back up to the deck of the ship to find Santos and a few other mercenaries talking amongst themselves.

Santos saw the Major approaching and motioned for his comrades to keep silent. "What did they want, Sir?" Santos asked.

"Release." Kane replied, snuffing out the candlelight from his oil lamp. "As do the rest of us." He sat down on his chair, staring out into the great blue sea that lay in front of him.

Santos looked at the Major, who obviously didn't want to hold a conversation, and motioned to the other mercenaries to leave. "Not you." Kane looked at one of his lieutenants that was among the mercenaries. "The rest of you may go." Santos and the rest of the mercenaries knelt with their right knee on the ground, and crossed their right fist to the opposite shoulder, and departed hastily before their master changed his mind.

"Sir, what do you want with me?" the lieutenant asked.

Major Kane got up from his chair, his back facing him, seemingly ignoring the question. For a few seconds, it seemed like the Major had suddenly become deaf, but then he spoke. "The others tell me you gave the green light to start firing on the villagers. Is that true?"

The man's heart sank, unable to come up with a suitable response.

"Remind me again, what were my orders before we reached Motunui?"

The man swallowed hard. "Deter, but do not kill the innocents."

"Then why were there hundreds of bodies strewn across the beach?" Major Kane asked calmly, his back still facing the mercenary as he looked out at the ocean.

The lieutenant gulped. "I'm sorry, Sir."

The Major turned and walked towards him. "Those villagers were innocent. If we kill women, children and the unarmed, then aren't we nothing more than just extremists? Would you defile my crusade and turn it into nothing more than mindless terror attacks?" The Major towered over the mercenary with his fist clenched.

The lieutenant glanced down to see the totem on the Major's ring finger glowing red. "It won't happen again, Sir." He bowed his head, with one knee to the ground, his right fist crossing over to the opposite shoulder.

Kane looked down at him with disgust. "For your sake, I hope it doesn't." Kane's voice was dark and ominous, sending a chill down the mercenary's spine.

He got up, avoiding eye contact with the Major, and walked away quickly.

Sitting down, Kane exhaled. All he wanted from Motunui was the snake totem, no one had to perish, yet so many had died horrible deaths. He had vowed that he would only kill when it was absolutely necessary. _Wait, but that wasn't true was it?_ _He had killed one of the villagers in cold blood. The villager had stabbed him first though, so was it really his fault that he killed the man? He didn't have to retaliate against the villager. The man's attempt was unsuccessful so did he really have to kill him? No._ It was an act of sheer malice, and Kane was ashamed of that. He was just glad that none of his own mercenaries had witnessed him murder the villager. In a way, as he was chastising his lieutenant, he was really chastising himself.

However, a tiny part of him had actually felt a sweet release when he had killed the man, and he was horrified at himself. It was a bloodlust that he had to find a way to get rid of somehow. He was going to make it a top priority to get rid of the bloodlust because he certainly could not afford to let the bloodlust cloud his judgement and tempt him to murder more people needlessly. Yes, he swore that he would kill when he absolutely needed to, but nothing more than that. Major Kane looked out at the ocean. Although there was turmoil within, he had hoped that he could calm the storm within by enjoying the peaceful waters on the way to his destination. The sound of the ocean reminded him of where he came from, before all this.

His family lived in a village next to the ocean when he was just a little boy. He couldn't remember much about his father though, since his father had spent most of his time away in the military. When he was six, his village received news that the soldiers that had gone out to battle had been caught in an ambush and that some had died. The young Kane had waited anxiously for his father to return, but after months of waiting and seeing other soldiers return home to their families, he and his family had accepted the fact that Kane's father had died in the ambush. Kane's mother turned to alcoholism to cope with the loss of her husband, and had often abused the boy and his siblings. As the family had depended on the man as the sole breadwinner, they were poverty-stricken as there was no one in the family who worked to earn a living, and so, when Kane turned nine, he started to work in the village.

The young Kane did small jobs like delivering goods and washing clothes, and when he grew older, he worked in the paddy fields as a farmer's assistant. When he turned eighteen, Kane enlisted into the army like his father before him, hoping to make a real difference. It took him a long time, but the young man eventually earned the rank of Major, a middle grade officer in the military. He fell in love with a woman from the village, and had two children, a boy and a girl. Major Kane remembered their faces, and smiled. His family was the only thing that had truly brought him joy. However, like his own father, Major Kane was often away from the village on military operations, and he felt the pangs of guilt for not being present enough in the early years of his children's lives.

One day, due to a lack of a junior officer in the company, the Major was attached to a naval mission as part of a joint-force initiative between the army and the navy, and had to sail out to sea to personally lead the mission against their enemies. Out at sea, he missed his family even more, and constantly dealt with homesickness. A week after he had embarked on the mission, he received word that the village where his family lived had been attacked by terrorists and burnt to the ground, leaving no survivors. Kane was completely crushed. He still remembered the exact feeling when he had received the news about his family's death, even though it had happened close to five years ago. It was a feeling that he would carry with him to the grave.

"Sir."

Kane was ripped from his deep thoughts and looked up in annoyance. "What is it, Santos?"

"Just wanted to inform you, Sir, we'll only arrive in Agrabah tomorrow morning." Kane looked out at the horizon. He could see nothing but ocean stretched out like a blue carpet in front of him.

"When it's time, gather the troops."

"As you wish." Santos bowed, and hurried down to the ship quarters to gather the mercenaries.

Major Kane looked out at the ocean. Soon, it would be time for the next leg of his quest to begin.

###

Elsa sat in the ship, unable to believe that just a day ago, she had a peaceful life up in the North Mountain, away from everyone and everything. The Princess from Denmark, Melody, had managed to convince her to embark on a journey with her and the self-proclaimed demigod to stop a warlord called "Major Kane". They had travelled back to Arendelle from the North Mountain and took one of Arendelle's cargo ships. The demigod had tied the ship to his body and transformed himself into a whale, dragging the ship quickly across the ocean. She couldn't believe that this was the crazy world she lived in now. _Demigods and warlords. Then again, she had powers of her own, so what right did she have to be surprised? _

However, Elsa couldn't really understand why Melody and the demigod had sought her out for this journey, other than the fact that she had powers that could be used against their enemies. _Why her though? Surely there had to be better options out there._ They were now travelling through the North Atlantic Ocean towards their destination on the other side of the world. Melody had told Elsa that they first needed to travel to one of the islands of Hawaii to rescue a specific girl who was stranded before they could begin to confront the Major. She wasn't even sure who this "Major Kane" was and why they were going to confront him, as Melody had told her that she would leave the explaining to the demigod, but he had transformed into a whale and hadn't explained anything to her since they embarked on their journey. So now, Elsa was stuck in a ship travelling across the world to face a danger that she didn't even know when all she wanted to do was to hole herself up in her private sanctuary and brood for days on end. She sighed. There was a tiny part of her that felt that maybe it would have been better if she had just stayed up in the North Mountain.

"How are you holding up?"

Elsa was jolted from her thoughts, and she glanced up to see Melody standing in front of her with a concerned look on her face. "Fine, I guess." Elsa lied with a straight face. "Any idea when we're gonna get to our destination? Wherever that is?"

"Motunui, I think." Melody replied. "And no, only Maui can answer that. How much further, Maui?" she called out to Maui who was towing the ship behind him rapidly.

"Don't know why, but I'm feeling some resistance! Could get a little rough!" Maui hollered above the splashing of the water against the sides of the ship.

Melody rolled her eyes. _Maui didn't even answer her question. _After they had returned to Arendelle from the North Mountains, Maui had suggested taking a ship and towing it across the ocean. While Melody had sworn never to take a ride from Maui ever again, the ship didn't seem like such a bad idea. Besides, it was pretty much the only way they were going to get to Motunui quickly. _And safely. _

Suddenly, the ship lurched violently and came to an abrupt stop, and both Melody and Elsa were thrown from their spots to the ship's deck.

"Hey, what's going on?" Melody shouted, getting up from the deck and running over to the side of the ship, looking down at Maui who had stopped.

"I don't know what happened. I can't move any further!" Maui replied in confusion.

"Look!" Elsa cried, joining Melody at the side of the ship, pointing at the water. "The water's turning black!"

Maui and Melody looked at the water, and true enough, the water was darkening and slowly turning black.

"Great. We're stranded in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle." Maui muttered. "Should have known better than to cut straight through the most dangerous waters in the world."

Upon seeing the waters turn ink black, Melody took off her leather jacket, passing it to Elsa, and undid her ponytail, letting her hair loose.

"What are you doing?" Elsa asked, visibly confused.

She ignored Elsa's question. She didn't have time to explain. Climbing the beam, she stood precariously on the edge. "Maui, get back on the ship with Elsa. I'll handle this."

Now, Maui was equally confused. "What do you mean '_you'll handle this_'? What, you're gonna dive down into the ocean and find out what's causing this?" Maui asked in a joking tone.

Melody ignored him as well, and grasped the locket around her neck. It glowed golden and the rays engulfed Melody, causing her to levitate a few feet above the beam.

Maui and Elsa shielded their eyes, unsure of what they were witnessing.

The light faded, revealing Melody with her salmon pink tail, and she dived into the ocean, disappearing below the dark waters, much to the shock of Elsa and Maui. As Melody dived deeper below the surface, the waters started to become clearer. Looking up, she could see that the surface was covered in inky water, but she was sure that that was not the only thing stopping them from moving. _Something more sinister was at play here._ She had heard about the Bermuda Triangle before and the many disappearances of ships in the region, but she had always dismissed it as myth. Now, she was experiencing it first hand.

Melody looked around at her surroundings. The waters felt so much more unfriendly compared to Atlantica. Everything seemed dingy and run down. It definitely wasn't a city, that was for sure. There were no merpeople or sea creatures anywhere, save for only a few crabs lurking around the seabed. It seemed that she didn't have many options. She swam down towards the seabed where the crabs were loitering. "Excuse me, can anyone tell me why ships magically disappear in this part of the ocean?" Melody asked, and the crabs jumped.

"A mermaid? We don't see you merfolk often in these parts." One of the crabs marvelled.

"Yeah, and why is that?" Melody probed further, attempting to solicit an answer that would point her in the right direction.

"Word is that it's those sea witches."

Sea witches? Melody hadn't heard of them for a long time. "These sea witches, they control the waters around here?"

The crabs nodded, evidently trying to avoid talking too much about the sea witches.

"Where can I find them?" Melody asked, and the crabs looked mortified.

"Kid, you don't want to do that. Stay away from those octopids in the Dark Zone. They're bad news."

Melody knew all too well what octopids were capable of. "Look, it's important. If you could just point me to this Dark Zone?"

The crabs looked at each other, and pointed towards at a shadowy area across a nearby reef.

"Thanks." Melody swam towards the reef and peered over it, surveying the Dark Zone. It looked abandoned, like a No Man's Land. Stuck in the seabed was a plank of wood with the words "Go away" scratched on it. It was highly likely that no living creature would pass through the area if they could help it. However, Melody knew she didn't have a choice. If she wanted the ship to be free to continue its voyage, she had to cross into the Dark Zone to bargain with the sea witches to free her vessel. The last time she had dealt with a sea witch was six years ago, and she had changed a lot since then. She was certain that she would not allow any sea witch to get the better of her ever again.

Melody crossed over the reef and into the zone. So far, she hadn't seen any octopids around. _Maybe the Dark Zone wasn't as dangerous as the crabs had made it out to be._ She swam over to one of the caves nearby, hoping to find signs of life inside. She hesitated, before heading into the drab cave. Unbeknownst to her, a figure lurked in the shadows, staring at her with piercing brown eyes. Melody swam through the cave's passageway, leading out into a huge gloomy cavern. It looked like a home, with shelves and plates and all, but no one was around. _Maybe this was a mistake._ She had broken into a sea witch's home, and things could get ugly if she was found intruding. Melody turned around to leave before she was spotted by anyone, but was slapped across the cheek by a long blue tentacle and sent reeling across the large cave.

Writer's Commentary:

Here, we get to see the Major again. My goal in creating a compelling villain isn't possible without crafting a backstory and humanizing Kane as much as I can. A good villain only works if the audience understands his motivations and who he is. I sure hope that I succeeded in giving you readers a taste of Kane's life before he turned to villainy. I will be exploring his past in greater detail as the story progresses.

We also find out what happened to Atlantica's ex-king, Triton. We last heard of him in Chapter 2, having gone on his own journey, and I hoped that this would serve as a nice little surprise, to see Triton as part of the Major's schemes. This first part of the chapter was written to show where the Major drew his line, and where he set his boundaries. I also wanted to showcase his thoughts and feelings about his outburst on Motunui, and how he feared the bloodlust that he had gotten from wielding the snake totem. That's just the beginning of his descent into darkness, you'll see.

The second part of the chapter focuses on our heroes as they travel to rescue Moana. I decided to add my own interpretation of the Bermuda Triangle mystery. All that was just to introduce a new character who we'll be meeting in the next chapter. You'll never guess who it is!


	6. Chapter 6: New Alliances

Chapter Six

Chapter 6: New Alliances

Melody crashed into the side of the cave's uneven rocky wall, and fell to the seabed in a heap. _Ugh, that hurt._ She groaned, pushing herself up off the seabed, woozy from the slap to the cheek and the impact against the stone wall. Covered in a cloud of dirt, Melody looked up to see a shadowy figure lurking in the opposite side of the cave, near the shelves carved out of stone.

"Stay down! I know who you are! Don't come any nearer!" the figure in the shadows warned nervously from across the spacious cave.

Melody was dumbfounded. _The attacker knew who she was?_ "Who are you? How do you know me?" she asked.

"Of course I know who you are," the figure floated out from the shadows, revealing herself as a slim teenage octopid with tan skin and blue tentacles. "How can I not know the girl who destroyed my life!"

Now, Melody's shock was replaced by confusion. _Who was this octopid? She had never seen her before, much less destroy her life!_ "I don't understand, I don't even know who you are! You must have me mistaken for someone else." Melody edged closer towards the octopid cautiously.

The octopid immediately grabbed a vial of green liquid from a shelf using one of her tentacles, and aimed it at Melody in a state of panic. "That's far enough. Get back!"

Melody raised both her hands, inching backwards in compliance.

"You killed my mother, Morgana!" the teenage octopid cried in anguish. "Do you even remember her?"

Melody was startled. _Morgana had a daughter who thought that Melody had killed her mother? What was going on? There was something very wrong here!_ "You've got it all wrong!" Melody shouted, dodging as the vial of green liquid was hurled her way and smashed to smithereens onto the wall of the cave. "I didn't kill your mother! She was frozen and banished by the King of Atlantica!"

"Liar!" the octopid screeched, throwing a beaker of inky black liquid at Melody's direction.

She ducked again, and swiftly closed the gap between her and her assailant. Grabbing the octopid, she pinned her firmly against the wall, wary of the squirming tentacles that swung about hysterically.

"Let go of me! You're not going to kill me too!" the octopid hollered, struggling to break free of Melody's strong grip.

"Listen to me, it's not true! I didn't kill your mother, she was frozen alive by King Triton!" Melody loosened her grip on the octopid, who had stopped struggling. "If I wanted to kill you, wouldn't I have done it already? I _didn't_ kill your mother. She's still alive." She let her go slowly, and the octopid slid down against the rocky walls, sitting on the seabed.

"Still doesn't change the fact that my mother's gone and she ain't coming back." the octopid muttered.

Melody looked at her, at a loss for what to do next. "What's your name?" Melody asked after what seemed like an eternity.

"Tracy." the octopid glanced up at Melody. "Should have figured that it was a lie all along. Something didn't feel right. If my relatives lied to me about you killing my mother, then maybe everything else they told me about my mother were lies."

"And why would you choose to believe me over them?" Melody asked, confused as to why this girl would believe her so easily.

"Because they're all sea witches and wizards. Lying scum. Some family huh."

"What do you know about your mother?" Melody asked guardedly, careful not to upset the volatile octopid any further.

"She was a sea witch like the rest of our family, bur she wanted more out of life than just staying here…with me, her daughter. So one day, nine years ago, she just disappeared and never came back. My aunts and uncles told me that she was killed by you, a mermaid from Atlantica that looked exactly like you." Tracy glanced at Melody, sizing her up and down.

_This mermaid didn't seem like a killer. Her family had probably just made it up just because they hated merfolk from Atlantica. Then that meant that everything she had believed about her mother for the last six years was a lie. She couldn't go anywhere near Atlantica as octopids had been cast out and forbidden to enter, so that meant relying on whatever her relatives had told her._ Tracy sighed, swimming past Melody and over to the other end of the cave to clean up the mess she had made. At this point, Tracy didn't know what to believe. The fact that she chose to believe a complete stranger over her relatives spoke volumes about her family's credibility. _What could she expect of them anyway? They were sea witches and wizards. It was in their nature to lie, cheat and manipulate. _

"Tracy," Melody swam over to the octopid and put her hand on her shoulder. "I don't know if you knew, but I'm sorry to tell you, but your mother committed some serious war crimes against Atlantica and attempted to rule the seven seas by force. I was a victim of her manipulation, a pawn in her schemes. She used me to get what she wanted, and in the end my grandfather, King Triton, had to freeze her alive to stop her from hurting anyone else or causing any more damage."

Tracy looked at Melody. "She was my mother, but she was no saint. Sorry I attacked you and that you got involved in all this, but I think you should leave now." Tracy used her tentacles to pick up the broken fragments of glass and swam away from Melody, her face downcast.

Melody looked at Tracy. _This girl wasn't evil._ She was just as much a victim of sea witches as Melody had been. Maybe Melody hated Morgana for what she had done to her six years ago, but deep down she knew that the daughter of Morgana didn't deserve to a life of isolation and hurt. "Tracy!" Melody called, swimming after her.

Tracy stopped and turned around.

"How old are you?"

Tracy was a little stunned, unsure of why Melody wanted to know her age. "Seventeen. Why?"

Melody bit her lip. Tracy was slightly younger than her when Morgana had used her as a means to an end. _How could Morgana have manipulated a girl that was almost the same age as her own daughter? Only a monster could do something like that._ "What will you do now?" Melody asked.

Tracy scoffed and tossed the broken fragments onto a pile of trash. "What I've always been doing, I guess. Destroy all human vessels that pass over the Bermuda Triangle. I'm destined to follow in my family's footsteps."

In all of the chaos, Melody had completely forgotten about her friends being stuck up at the surface. "What do you mean? Sea witches are responsible for causing all those mysterious disappearances?"

"You sound like you know about the human world a lot." Tracy replied, trying to evade the question.

"I was born a human. I'm not a natural mermaid." Melody explained. "So you're the reason ships and planes mysteriously disappear?"

Tracy nodded, evidently not proud of the fact. "It's been my family's job for generations. We were guardians of the Dark Zone, or else you know it, the Bermuda Triangle, and we destroyed human vessels that passed over our waters. We don't know why we do it, but it's always been our job. My mother wanted more out of life than just destroying stuff, and so she left, apparently to try to rule the seven seas. Looks like it didn't work out too great for her huh." Tracy scoffed sarcastically at her last comment. "I guess that's a lesson for me. I wanna break free from my family's cycle of violence and mediocrity too, but I know better than to try now. I'm destined to follow in their footsteps. Otherwise, I'm just gonna end up like my mother, frozen in ice at the bottom of the ocean for all eternity."

Melody's heart sank. She had no idea that Morgana's actions back then would have had such dire repercussions on her own daughter's life. Tracy just wanted to forge her own path, away from her family's evil ways, but even then, Morgana's actions were shackling Tracy to a life of evil, keeping her afraid of the boundless opportunities that awaited outside of the Dark Zone. Melody had the chance to free Tracy from her internal prison, and she wasn't about to pass it up.

"Tracy, you can't stay here. There's nothing for you here in the Dark Zone." Melody attempted to reason with her. "What if I could offer you a chance to break free from your family's cycle of violence? To be more than just a sea witch in the Bermuda Triangle?"

Tracy looked at Melody with disbelief in her eyes. "I can't. I'm fated to be a sea witch, like my mother before me. And if I try to break free, it's just going to end badly." Tracy folded her arms. "I can't risk that. I rather live a life of mediocrity here in the Dark Zone than die a horrible death alone out there."

"I don't believe in fate. I believe that we all choose our own paths. And it was the choices that I made that led me here to you, Tracy." Melody said confidently. "You don't have to be evil like the rest of your family. If you choose not to be evil, what reason is there for you to end up dying out there?"

Tracy kept silent, considering all that she had heard.

"And you won't be alone. You have me. I know you don't know me very well, and you just learnt that I wasn't responsible for your mother's fate, but I'm asking you to trust me." Melody bit her bottom lip, hoping that Tracy would accept her offer and leave the Dark Zone together with her.

"I don't know where to start." Tracy admitted, after what seemed like forever.

"That's alright," Melody assured her. "You can start by coming with me. We could use your help."

"We?" Tracy asked, with uncertainty in her voice.

"Come on, I'll explain on the way. First, let's get out of the Dark Zone."

###

Standing on the deck, the Snow Queen looked out into the ocean that lay in front of her. Elsa never told anyone, but she felt uneasy about being on ships. Her parents had been on a ship that was caught in a storm that claimed their lives, and since then, she had an irrational fear of dying out at sea like her parents. Now, the chances of that happening seemed rather high. Stealing a glance down at the inky waters, she turned away quickly, shuddering to think about what lurked beneath the surface and how Melody was so quick to dive into the ocean without any hesitation. She was shocked beyond words when Melody grew a pink tail out of the blue and dived into the dark waters below. Speaking of her, it had been quite a while since Melody had disappeared below the waters. _What if something horrible had happened to Melody down there?_ Elsa twitched, trying to get the thought out of her head.

"Hey,"

Elsa was jolted out of her thoughts, and looked up to see the whale-turned-human towering over her.

"I couldn't help but notice, you're looking rather lonely and broody. I'm Maui, the shapeshifting demigod." Maui beamed, bowing proudly.

"I'm Elsa." Elsa replied promptly, inching away from Maui and walking towards the other side of the ship, making it clear that she didn't want to hold a conversation.

"Right, Elsa the 'Snow Queen'. Quick question." Maui followed Elsa to the other end. "How did you get your powers and what exactly can you do with them?"

Elsa looked at Maui with slight irritation.

"It's just that your reputation has spread far and wide. I'm curious, how did you end up freezing your entire kingdom?" Maui continued cheerfully, blissfully unaware that Elsa was staring daggers at him.

"Actually, I would prefer to be alone right now if you don't mind. I'm trying to think." Elsa decided that a direct approach would be the best way to get her at least some silence for a while.

"You know, we're gonna be stuck together on this trip for quite a while, so maybe we should get to know each other better. An ice breaker of sorts, right?" Maui ignored Elsa's request to be left alone, much to her annoyance. "I'll start. I was born an ordinary human, and was chosen by the gods as a child. And so, I was raised as a demigod and possessed unique abilities, such as-" Maui transformed himself into a leopard and roared, startling Elsa, who backed away from the edge of the ship. The sudden shock caused her to lose control of her powers temporarily, and the part of the deck where she stood was frozen over. "Yeah, you get the idea." Maui chuckled, transforming himself back into human form. "How about you?"

Elsa exhaled, and sized Maui up in exasperation. He wore a skirt made up of palm tree leaves and was very tall and muscular, with long curly hair. Despite his attractive appearance, she found him simply annoying, especially since he couldn't take a hint and wouldn't leave her alone. It seemed that she wasn't going to get her peace and quiet while on this mission. What a pity. "I was born with my powers, and I was taught by my parents to hide them from the world," Elsa began, knowing that there was no ignoring the demigod. "And for the longest time, I did, but everything was revealed by accident at my coronation a month ago. But even after I returned to Arendelle, things weren't the same anymore." Elsa suddenly found herself pouring out her personal issues to this complete stranger, much to her horror, but she couldn't seem to stop.

"The Arendelle Council launched a referendum to allow the people to decide whether they wanted me as their Queen. But I know how it's going to end. The people of Arendelle fear me, I'm like a monster to them. I can't ignore the fact that I'm different. An outcast." Elsa avoided eye contact with Maui. "My powers are a curse, and if I stay, I'm only going to end up hurting someone sooner or later. If it isn't my sister, it'll be someone else. The people deserve a better ruler. It's safer for everyone that I left Arendelle." Elsa looked up at Maui. "Which is why I don't understand, why drag me into this? I'm a liability to everyone here." In telling Maui her story, she had allowed her emotions to run wild, which in turn caused the beam which Elsa had been holding on to to freeze over completely.

Maui looked at Elsa, at a loss for words. Making her upset certainly wasn't part of the plan and he actually felt bad, not knowing what to say to her next. He had just been looking for an excuse to strike a conversation with the Snow Queen, and admittedly had not expected such a heavy conversation with her. He was hoping that the conversation would lead up nicely to a point where he could tell Elsa about the mission and what they were up against, but now didn't seem like a good time at all. Not after what she had just told him.

At that moment, Melody broke through the surface of the water, which had surprisingly cleared up and was no longer dark and inky, and soared through the air. She grasped her necklace while falling towards the deck, and in a blinding golden light, she transformed back into a human, her salmon pink tail vanishing and being replaced by legs clad in dark jeans and boots. She landed gracefully on the deck like she had practiced a thousand times and whipped her head back, sending the hair covering her face to the back of her head. "Problem solved. Oh, and one more thing." Melody leaned over the deck. "You can come aboard now!" Long blue tentacles grabbed onto the ship.

Tracy used her tentacles to pull herself out of the water and climbed aboard the ship, dripping wet, glancing around awkwardly at her new surroundings.

"This is Tracy. She's the one who helped us clear the waters and she'll be joining us on our journey." Melody introduced the octopid, and Tracy tried not to make eye contact with anyone in particular.

Elsa stood by, watching things unfold. She looked at Tracy, and when the newest member glanced at her, Elsa gave a small polite smile.

Maui cocked an eyebrow curiously. As far as he knew, the prophecy didn't mention anything about an octopid joining the team of warriors in stopping the Major. _Well, then again, the prophecy wasn't even complete._ _It didn't tell him whether they would win in the end anyway, so what if it also didn't tell him about all the members of the team?_ He was so confused.

"If it makes y'all more comfortable." Tracy chanted something softly under her breath. She was quickly engulfed in a purple mist, and immediately, the mist cleared to reveal Tracy in human form. She wore a navy blue t shirt with long sleeves and denim shorts with brown boots.

"Wait, you're a shapeshifter too?" Maui asked, shocked at the stranger who had just boarded their ship.

"Nope…just a plain old sea witch." Tracy replied, sticking her hands into the pockets of her new denim shorts. "Look, I'm sorry about stopping your ship, it was kind of my job. I understand if y'all don't want me here."

"Nonsense. You're coming with us." Melody insisted, and turned to Maui. "I think it's time we continued our journey."

"Sure thing, mermaid." Melody hadn't told him before that she was a human-mermaid hybrid archer, but by now he had seen enough to know that she was most definitely the warrior he had been looking for in Denmark. Maui tied one end of a long rope to his body and the other end to the ship. "Onwards to Motunui!" He let out a signature battle cry and took a huge leap back into the ocean, causing a huge splash and sending water flying everywhere. In a flash of light, he transformed back into a big brown whale and began pulling the ship rapidly through the water.

Writer's Commentary:

Tracy's an intriguing character isn't she? And what's more, she's the daughter of Melody's most hated enemy! That ought to be an interesting dynamic between the two characters in the coming chapters.

When I was thinking of ways that Melody could redeem herself other than the main mission of stopping the Major, I realized that I could help her redeem herself through a subplot, which led to the introduction of a victimized sea witch. Tracy is stuck in a vicious cycle, and longs to break free. Melody sees her chance to help Tracy and in doing so, moves one step closer to redeeming herself. This action also goes to show Melody's kind-hearted and forgiving nature. She doesn't hold a grudge against the daughter of her enemy, although the same can't be said for Tracy. I wrote Tracy to be rough around the edges, to exemplify how a rouge/thuggish character could eventually evolve, and I promise that you'll get to see that as the story goes on. She's sure to serve as a nice foil to the heroes around her!

For the subplot between Elsa and Maui, I purposely inserted tension between them, as that makes for more interesting character dynamics. See, what if the heroes couldn't get along? How is that going to affect the mission at hand? Hopefully this spices things up. Also, Elsa seems to be rather hostile towards Maui, and we see why she doesn't want to talk. When she does, Elsa is unable to prevent herself from pouring out her problems to Maui, which is more than he had expected. We will be exploring more of the Elsa/Maui dynamic later in the story. I mean, pitting the quiet Snow Queen against the boisterous demigod? That's going to be fun to write :)


	7. Chapter 7: The Last Warrior of Motunui

Chapter Seven

The Last Warrior of Motunui

The moon cast a subtle silver light upon Tracy and Elsa who both sat on the deck of the ship as it sped across the ocean, rapidly being towed by Maui. At this rate, they would probably reach Motunui the next morning. Tracy sat crosslegged on a wooden crate while Elsa stood not too far away, silently staring out into the dark. Melody had gone down to the quarters to rest and sharpen her arrows, and had left the two girls up on the deck with time to think and brood.

Elsa looked over at Tracy, who had begun chanting some spell under her breath. A small purple mist rose from her hands, before dissipating quickly. She heard Tracy mutter something in exasperation, evidently disappointed that her spell did not work. "So you can conjure magic?" Elsa asked, breaking the hour-long silence that had begun when Melody left the deck to go down to the ship's quarters.

Tracy looked over at Elsa. "Yeah, I guess. But my magic doesn't seem to be working. Some sea witch huh."

"Melody must have seen something in you. Otherwise she wouldn't have brought you on this journey for no reason." Elsa assured her.

"You trying to reassure me? Or yourself?"

Elsa was taken aback, not expecting that response at all.

Tracy chuckled. "Yeah, it's that obvious. You feel like an outcast too and don't know what you're doing here. When Melody introduced us, she said you were the Queen of- uh…"

"Arendelle."

"Right. That one. So what are you doing here? You some kind of witch too?"

"You could say that. People think I'm a monster so that counts, I guess." Elsa admitted. "I have these." She formed an ice dagger in her palm, letting Tracy witness her abilities. "Most of the time, they're only good for hurting the ones close to me." She tossed the ice dagger out into the ocean. "The only thing that makes sense to me is that Melody and the demigod need my powers to level the playing field against some guy we're going up against. But I don't even know who we're fighting and what this is all about."

"Yeah, I was kinda hoping someone around here could tell me what we're up against on this little voyage. Melody said that she would leave it to the demigod to explain it all, but he's in the ocean playing shapeshifter." Tracy agreed. "I guess I kinda wanna know what I'm doing here, and how this is supposed to be any better than staying in the Dark Zone and following in my family's footsteps."

Elsa looked curious. "Dark Zone?"

"Yeah, it's no palace like where you're from," Tracy replied. "Down in the Dark Zone, I was taught to destroy all human vessels that passed through the Bermuda Triangle. I'm a sea witch. Which is why I don't get why Melody would want someone like me to be on this mission."

Elsa found herself listening to a monologue that sounded very similar to the one that she had given to Maui not long ago. She looked at Tracy, who had broken eye contact and was staring down at her brown boots which had replaced her tentacles. "You know, you and I aren't all that different." Elsa said cautiously.

Tracy let out a snort. "Yeah right. You're the Queen of Aaronbell-"

"Arendelle."

"-Arendelle, and I'm a sea witch from the Dark Zone. Sure, we aren't all that different."

"No, I don't mean where we come from or our statuses," Elsa continued. "We're both ashamed of our past and what we've done. I've had some time to think it over, and I guess what Melody told me was right: being on this quest gives us a way for us to make up for our mistakes and bad choices. I've only known her for a day, but from what I can tell, she sees the best in everyone and everything. So like I said, she must have seen something in you… and me."

Tracy bit her lip and took a minute to take in all that Elsa had told her. "I guess you're right," Tracy looked up at Elsa. "But I still don't know who I'm supposed to be. Am I really more than just a sea witch?"

Elsa smiled. "That's something we're both going to have to figure out." She got up and walked towards the stairs leading down to the ship's quarters. She stopped and turned back to look at Tracy. "It's late. I'm going to catch some sleep."

Tracy nodded, following Elsa down to the ship's quarters to call it a night.

###

Elsa awoke to the sound of gagging that seemed to be coming from the deck. She blinked, the sunlight flooding in through the dirt stained window of her cabin and she took a while to realise that it was already morning. Pulling the bedsheet off her, she swung her feet out of bed. She put on her shoes and walked up the stairs to the deck, and was greeted by the sight of Tracy throwing up over the side of the ship.

Melody stood behind her, holding her hair up. "Morning, Elsa."

"Morning." Elsa replied, looking over at Tracy. "What's up with her?"

Melody pointed to a couple of packets lying on the deck. "Combat rations. I stole some from my dad's troops back home."

"They're disgusting." Tracy lifted her head up from the side of the deck, pale and weak.

"I mean, it's not like we have any other choice." Melody shrugged.

Elsa sighed and peeled open a packet of combat rations. She peeked inside. _Ugh, it really looked horrible._ Never would she have dreamt that she would need to eat one of these, having lived her entire life in luxury in the palace. She put the open packet to her mouth and pushed the slimy and mushy substance into her mouth, swallowing it quickly. Almost immediately, she felt like throwing up just like Tracy, but forced the feeling down by swallowing hard and tilting back her head. She needed the energy to survive the entire day, and it appeared that the disgusting rations that soldiers ate on a routine basis were her only option, so she had to get used to the taste.

"We're almost there, girls!" Maui hollered over the rapid splashing of the water against the ship.

The three girls looked out into the horizon in front of the ship. They were fast approaching a huge island. Finally, they were reaching Motunui! As the ship neared the island's beach, Maui shape-shifted back into his human form and the ship began to slow down. Using the rope tied around him, Maui dragged the ship up the sand and it rested on the beach.

Elsa and Tracy disembarked from the ship carefully, jumping and landing on the soft sand while Melody took off her jacket and grabbed her bow.

She slung her quiver over her back with her bow in hand, and jumped from the ship's deck. She landed on the soft sand, joining the rest of the warriors. "So, where's this Moana?" Melody asked.

"I'm not sure." Maui replied grimly, seeming hesitant to venture further inland. He had known that he was coming back to save Moana, but now that he was here, this place reminded him of the attack that had happened days ago and it sent chills down his spine.

"Where's the last place you saw her?"

Maui pointed towards a spot beyond a plantation of palm trees on the beach.

"Then let's start there." Melody said confidently, signalling for the rest to follow her further inland.

Both Tracy and Elsa looked as hesitant as Maui was, but for a different reason. This island seemed to give off a creepy vibe of death and destruction, and they both felt uncomfortable. Nevertheless, they followed Maui and Melody, afraid of what might happen to them if they stayed behind.

Melody pushed aside the huge palm leaves and walked through the plantation of trees, with Maui, Elsa and Tracy following behind. They made their way past the trees and out into the open space on the other side, and they were horrified by the sight that greeted them.

A village lay in ruins, with houses razed to the ground and motionless villagers strewn across the beach. Some of the survivors were picking up what was left of their homes, while others were slumped against the trees, wounded from battle. The beach itself was partially covered in red, and spears and other weapons were scattered everywhere.

Maui exhaled sharply in distress, running a hand through his thick greasy hair. The three girls shuddered, having never seen so much death and destruction before in their lives. This was more than what they had signed up for, but it was too late to turn back now.

Tracy looked around. She had caused destruction to human vessels before, but this was destruction on a magnitude that she had never seen before. Whoever or whatever had caused this was way out of her league, and for a few seconds, she wondered if she had joined the wrong side. "What happened here?" Tracy asked.

Maui turned around to look at her with a grim expression on his face. "The Major."

"Who?" Tracy was even more confused than before, and Elsa listened in, hoping to get a clue as to what they were about to face.

"He did this. I saw it happen right before my very eyes. And I could do nothing to stop him." Maui continued with guilt in his voice. A horrible thought crept into his mind. _What if the Major had killed Moana after he had escaped from Motunui?_ He shuddered.

Melody walked up to one of the survivors who was carrying pieces of wood across the beach. "I don't know if you can understand me. I'm sorry about what happened here, but do you know where we can find Moana?"

The villager looked back at her with tired eyes. "The Ali'i wants to be left alone,"

"Please, we came to this island to help her," Melody pleaded with genuine sympathy.

The villager hesitated before pointing in the direction of a tall mountain. "There," he replied.

Maui looked up. He was blinded by the sun in his eyes, but briefly saw the silhouette of a figure walking away from the edge of the mountain. "That's Ancestors' Peak." Maui said.

The villager looked at Maui. "You," he pointed at the demigod. "You were supposed to help us. The Ali'i trusted you."

Maui bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry I couldn't save Motunui."

The villager looked at Maui, and walked away, his eyes filled with sadness.

Maui sighed. He knew that he had betrayed the trust of Moana's people, but he had done it so that the rest of the world had a chance to be saved. "That's the tallest mountain on the island where chiefs of times past placed their own rocks to mark their leadership." Maui explained with a heavy heart.

"What if she doesn't want to be found?" Elsa asked anxiously.

"I owe it to Moana to find out." Maui said firmly, walking towards the mountain. "Stay here." Maui looked back at the three girls. "It's best for Moana if she sees a familiar face first." In a single bound, Maui leaped up off the beach, causing sand to fly everywhere from the impact, and he landed on the summit of Ancestors' Peak. Maui got up from his crouched position from where he had landed, and looked around. He spotted the pile of rocks that the ancestral chiefs had added to that cemented their legacy, and looked for Moana's rock which had been on top of the pile. _It wasn't there. _

Looking down, he saw Moana's rock, which had been scratched and discarded beside the pile of rocks, together with her personal spear. Picking the spear up, Maui looked further and saw a girl sitting at the opposite edge of Ancestors' Peak. His hopes were raised, and walked cautiously towards the girl. She had the same build as Moana, as well as the same hair which seemed frizzier than usual. "Moana?" Maui called out hopefully.

The girl didn't turn around, as if having not heard Maui's call.

Maui walked to the edge of the mountain slowly, kneeling down to speak with her at eye level. "Moana, it's me. Maui. I've come back for you."

Moana turned to look at Maui, and he was surprised to see that her already tan skin was dark with bruises and some areas were still blood stained. Her eyes had dark circles from a lack of sleep, and her lips were parched.

"Why did you come back?" Moana's cracked voice was filled with defeat and her eyes dull with depression.

"I came back for you, Moana." Maui replied, dismayed by the state his best friend was in.

"It's too late." Moana turned away.

"Where's the Major?" Maui asked, lightly putting a hand on her shoulder, deeply concerned for his friend.

"Gone. His black magic was too strong. He took the totem and left. I couldn't stop him."

"Look at me." Maui said firmly.

Moana turned to look at Maui, her face tear stained.

"He had black magic. There was nothing you could have done to stop him."

"I could have." Moana replied quietly. "My father trusted me with the family pendant before he died. He told me that the light magic was now mine to wield."

"But it wasn't enough to stop Kane." Maui insisted.

"It could have been. If only I had been stronger, I could have saved everyone. But because of me, my family and friends are dead," she held her father's pendant gently in her hand. "This is all I have left of my family now."

Maui was at a loss for words. "This-this was all him. It wasn't your fault."

Moana turned away from Maui. "You shouldn't have come back. Please, just leave me be."

Maui sighed. He knew he had one last card he could play and he prayed that it would work. "Moana, he's still out there. He'll hurt more people if we don't stop him. We need your help."

"Don't use that prophecy stuff with me." Moana replied. "It's not going to work."

"No, no, forget the prophecy." Maui continued. "I've known you for the past few years. The Moana I know doesn't give up, even when she's been knocked down. Remember the heart of Te Fiti?"

Moana looked up at Maui again. "That was different."

"It may have been," Maui insisted confidently. "But you're still the same Moana. And I know that you're stronger than this. Prove the Major wrong." Maui pulled Moana to her feet and held out the spear for her.

Moana looked at Maui and took the spear in her hand. "Where is he?"

###

Melody looked up at Ancestors' Peak. It had been a while since Maui had gone up to the summit and she was starting to wonder if he had fallen asleep up there. "You guys doing fine?" she looked at Tracy and Elsa, who had both hidden under one of the palm trees which was surprisingly still intact after Major Kane's troops had destroyed the village.

"It's kind of warm." Elsa replied, wiping away bits of perspiration from her forehead. She had used her ice powers to create a new sleeveless light blue dress for herself which extended down to her knees, with a darker shade of blue leggings to keep her legs protected from bug bites, and comfortable white sneakers on her feet. The climate in Hawaii was way warmer than Norway's and her previous outfit had been too thick as she had created it after The Great Freeze. After all, being out here on the quest didn't call for royal attire, so she could dress however she wanted.

Tracy rolled her eyes. "How much longer do we have to wait here?" She looked at the dead bodies of the villagers that were still strewn across the land. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Hopefully not much longer." Melody looked up at the mountain again. Just as she looked up, she saw a large silhouetted figure jump off the edge of Ancestors' Peak against the glaring sun and she stepped way back to make room for the landing.

Maui touched down on the ground in a crouched position, making a huge dent in the sand. Clinging on his back was the girl Melody presumed was Moana.

She dismounted and immediately pointed her spear towards the direction of the three girls.

Instinctively Melody drew back her bow, aiming an arrow at the spear.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my island?" Moana asked fiercely.

"Woah, hold on! They're friends!" Maui quickly lowered Moana's spear with his hand. "I went around the world to find them to help us on our mission!"

Moana slowly eased up, reverting to a normal position from her combat stance, still a little wary of the strangers on her sacred grounds that had already been defiled once.

"This is Princess Melody of Denmark. She's an archer and a human-mermaid hybrid." Maui pointed to Melody, as she placed her arrow back in her quiver.

"Melody is fine." she gave a small but friendly smile.

Maui pointed to Elsa. "And this, is Queen Elsa of Arendelle. She's…cold."

"Ice manipulation." Elsa corrected, still wary of the fierce tribal girl.

"And this," Maui pointed to Tracy. "Is Tracy. She's uhh…" Maui paused, realizing that he didn't know anything about the octopid other than the fact that she came out of the ocean.

"A sea witch. From the Bermuda Triangle." Tracy finished his sentence bluntly.

"Former sea witch." Melody chimed in quickly, hoping that Tracy didn't make a bad first impression on Moana.

Moana raised an eyebrow.

"Don't worry, I can vouch for her." Melody reassured, looking at Tracy in annoyance.

"Right… So you think this alliance of warriors will be enough to stop Major Kane?" Moana looked at Maui in doubt. "Even a hundred of our villagers couldn't stop him and his mercenaries from destroying our home."

"Trust me." Maui looked confidently at Moana. "The prophecy s-"

"The prophecy says so. Yeah I get it." Moana finished his sentence. "I don't know if the five of us will even survive an encounter with Kane, much less stop him."

"We will." Melody spoke up confidently.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Trust us."

There was an awkward silence that hung over the atmosphere for a minute or two, then Moana sighed in resignation. "If you say so. Let's go."

The five warriors walked out of the village and through the plantation of palm trees that led to the coast. They walked across the sand and piled onto the ship that rested on the beach, and Maui pushed the boat off the sand and into the water. He climbed aboard the ship, much to the confusion of Melody, Elsa and Tracy.

"Wait a minute. Maui, if you're on the ship, who's gonna pull us across the ocean?" Tracy asked, puzzled.

"Ah. Watch this." Maui smiled, nodding at Moana.

Moana lifted her hands with her palms facing up and stared intensely at the water, narrowing her eyes in concentration. The water behind the ship rose into a mini tidal wave, and moved towards the ship. Instead of breaking off upon contact with the ship, the tidal wave held together, pushing the ship forward through the water at a pace much faster than when Maui had towed the ship as a whale.

"And that's Moana for you," Maui proclaimed proudly as the ship sped across the water.

"Right, so where exactly are we headed?" Elsa asked on behalf of the rest of the team.

"Agrabah." Moana replied, looking around at the warriors. "After the Major overpowered me with his black magic, I overheard him telling one of his mercenaries to plot a course for the Cave of Wonders in the city of Agrabah. I don't know why or what that is, but I know that's where he's headed next." Moana finished.

"And at this rate, we won't be far behind." Melody continued.

"I'm sure some of you still aren't sure exactly what we're up against." Maui looked around.

Tracy and Elsa nodded, and so did Melody. Even she didn't have all the details yet, only pieces of the puzzle.

"This man called Major Kane. He invaded Motunui to steal the ancient snake totem which now helps him to harness his black magic efficiently." Moana began. "He and his forces decimated my village and slaughtered countless, leaving a few alive as 'a show of mercy', he said." she finished grimly.

"I didn't think the day would come when the events of the prophecy would be set in motion," Maui continued. "But the Major has finally emerged from the shadows and has begun his quest to destroy mankind. And so I assembled this team of warriors from around the world according to the prophecy in a bid to stop him."

The team looked around at each other. It was a lot of heavy information to take in.

"Whew. Didn't think I would be saving the world when I woke up this morning." Tracy said in a sardonic tone, walking away from the deck down to her quarters to try to process all that she had heard.

The rest of the warriors remained silent, each wondering what they had just gotten themselves into, leaving only the sound of the waves splashing against the ship as the warriors advanced towards Agrabah.

Writer's Commentary:

In this chapter, I began to explore more of the heroines' purposes on the quest through conversations between Tracy and Elsa, and Maui and Moana. And we finally return to Motunui, to find it in ruins. All that imagery of the village being torn down is to showcase the state of mind that Moana is now stuck in. Guilty that she wasn't able to stop the Major and furious at him for destroying her home, we get to see her meet the warriors that Maui had assembled.

I think that it's going to be a very interesting dynamic between all the different heroes, now that we've assembled the entire team. They are heading towards their next destination to stop the Major, and Maui finally brings them all up to speed. Everyone learns of the villain and what they have gotten themselves into. Ending this chapter off in a dire tone sets the stage for their anticipation of what comes next, and the grave challenge that they will find in the Major. In the next chapter, we will explore more of the Major's backstory. It's going to showcase the Major that you know in a whole different light!


	8. Chapter 8: Loss, Regret, Cave of Wonders

Chapter Eight

Loss, Regrets and a Cave of Wonders

"Sir, isn't there any way we could turn back?" Kane buried his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry, Kane." The Captain placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you're going through a lot of pain. A lot of these men are. Their families died too. But we can't turn back now. We've come too far on this mission. The only way is forward, soldier."

"I understand, Sir." Major Kane looked up, his voice low to conceal the tremble.

The Captain patted Kane's shoulder sympathetically, before leaving Kane alone in his office on board the naval ship.

Just an hour ago, Kane and the rest of the marines on board the naval ship had received news from the mainland that an enemy attack had been launched against the village where they lived. To their horror, they were told that the village had been razed to the ground, leaving no survivors. All of the people on board the naval ship were devastated, and their spirits had been utterly broken. Kane, who had the rank of Major, had decided to talk to the man in charge. Since he was from the army and he had been posted to a naval mission, the Navy Captain, the equivalent to a Colonel in the armed forces, was his new Commanding Officer who he did not know well at all. Here in the navy, Major Kane's rank was equal to that of a Navy Lieutenant Commander, which was below that of a Navy Captain. If he were back in the army, he would outrank a Captain, but in the Navy the ranks were different, and he had no choice but to treat the Navy Captain as he would a Colonel. He had attempted to convince the Captain to turn back as they were all in no condition to carry on with their mission, but the Captain had refused, since they were too far out in the ocean, and reminded him that they all had a mission to carry out.

Alone in his office, Major Kane clenched his fist and slammed it hard against his desk, and the sound reverberated throughout the tiny room. _If only he had been with his normal regiment, the Colonel, his own Commanding Officer, would understand and let them return to their homes, but here in the Navy, he had no choice but to obey the Captain's orders. _Shedding a tear, he wiped it away quickly, in case anyone entered his room and saw a hardened officer crying.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door, and Kane straightened out his uniform and checked his bearings before walking to the door to open it.

Outside stood one of the corporals, with a file. "Good evening Sir. The Captain wanted me to deliver the operation rundown to you."

Major Kane took the file from him. "Thank you, corporal." he turned to walk back to his desk.

"Sir?"

Kane looked back.

"I'm sorry for your loss." The corporal said sorrowfully. "I lost my family in the attack too."

Kane turned around and walked towards the corporal. "What's your name?"

"Santos."

He placed a hand on Santos' shoulder. "We'll get through this. Finish the mission to capture The Hanedale so that we can go home to bury our dead." He looked confidently at Santos. "I promise you, Santos. You will get to see your family one last time."

"Thank you, Sir." Santos forced a smile, saluted the Major and walked out of the room, closing the door.

The confident look on Major Kane's face faded as the corporal departed, and he slumped against the wall of his office and slowly slid down into a seated position, file still in hand. _It was an empty promise. His head wasn't even on straight. How was he going to lead his men into battle and hope to bring them all home safely? If anything, he was just a convincing liar._ The Major exhaled deeply, lightly bumping the back of his head against the wall as he sat slumped in depression. He never should have agreed to embark on this naval mission as a joint-force initiative. If he hadn't, maybe things would have turned out differently. Maybe he could have protected his family against the enemy. His wife and children could still be alive if it wasn't for him. Kane shed more tears as his guilt consumed him and his grief overwhelmed him.

He looked down at the file in his hand. It had the words "SECRET" stamped across it. Major Kane opened the file and looked at the numerous documents inside. _Operation briefs, sketches of the enemy ship and detailed schedules… _He could not focus as his mind was still stuck with images of his wife and children being slaughtered by enemy forces. Mindlessly, he read through the documents, and nothing was absorbed. He closed the file. _It was futile._ He was so immersed in his emotions, contrary to how he had been trained: to compartmentalize and focus on the mission at hand, but he couldn't. The pain he was experiencing was far too distracting, and he could slowly feel anger burning inside him. _What kind of man would give the order for his men to commit horrors such as destroying an entire village? Only a monster would be capable of that._ Kane tossed the file aside violently and the papers inside flew everywhere. He sunk his head in his hands. If only he had the power to change things and to protect his family. _But he didn't. And that made him weak and pathetic. _

The next morning at six, alone in his quarters, Major Kane laced up his boots and straightened out his uniform. He looked at himself in the mirror, and exhaled deeply. He was going to make one last attempt to appeal to the Captain to turn the ship around on behalf of everyone on the ship. _It was a desperate move that was going to make him look pathetic, but it had to be done._ With the sounds of the waves and the smell of the fresh sea water filling the early morning air, Kane walked along the corridor leading to the Captain's office with a heavy heart. He knocked on the door and opened it. "Sir?"

The Captain looked up from his desk. "Kane? It's way too early for this. What do you want?"

Kane closed the door quietly and walked into the office. "Captain, I don't think any of us is in any condition for the mission tonight. Sir, I implore you. Let us return to our home to bury our dead."

The Captain looked at Kane as he made his petition known, and sighed. He got up from his desk. "Kane, I get it. Everyone's suffering from grief, I see that. I'm not blind. But I can't turn the ship back now, as much as I want to. We're so close to the enemy ship that has been trespassing in our waters. This is our only chance to mount our attack against The Hanedale and deal a critical blow to our enemy. If we succeed in taking The Hanedale by force, half the war is won. We can prevent countless more villages from being destroyed. Major, you have to look at the big picture."

Kane looked at the Captain with desperation in his eyes. "Sir, you don't understand. Even if I lead those men out there, no one is in any condition to fight."

"Then it's your job to motivate them." The Captain remained steadfast and unbudging.

"But Sir-"

"I'm done arguing about this. Take the marines and storm the enemy ship. That's an order, Major." The Captain cut Kane off, tired of the endless argument. "Now if I'm not mistaken, you have a mission briefing to conduct soon."

"Yes, Sir." Kane saluted the Captain and walked out of the office in defeat. He slumped against the railing of the ship. _He had failed._ Now, he didn't know how he was going to lead the men into battle when he himself had already lost everything.

Major Kane strapped on his military vest and tightened it around his body securely. He placed his Glock knife into his belt holster and looked around at the marines on the deck, all preparing their gear for the upcoming mission. All of them looked downcast and in no condition to carry out the mission. Kane couldn't blame them, for he felt the same way. He cleared his throat. "Gentlemen."

The men looked at Major Kane.

"You've been at the briefing this morning, you know your roles. Get ready to ambush the The Hanedale in six."

"Yes Sir." The men muttered amongst themselves as they continued to gear up.

Kane noticed Santos amongst the men, and walked up to him. "Remember my promise, Santos." He placed a hand on the corporal's shoulder. Santos nodded, and Kane walked to the edge of the deck. He took out his binoculars and lifted it to his eyes, pointing it out into the ocean. He focused his eyes on the enemy ship in the distance. The night was foggy and the moon hid behind the clouds, giving Kane and his marines perfect cover. _They had to strike now before the moon emerged. _

Giving the order, Kane and the troops dived into the ocean, decked out in their underwater combat gear. They swam over to The Hanedale quietly and climbed the enemy ship from different entry points. Major Kane and the marines in his detail climbed onto the deck, and to their horror, they were met by an array of muskets pointed right at them. _He must have gotten the schedules of the enemy sentries wrong._ Kane cursed himself quietly and placed his hands up in surrender. "Men, stand down. There's no way we're blasting our way out of this."

The enemies kicked the back of Kane's hamstrings, forcing him to his knees, and did the same to the rest of his detail. One of the enemies shouted to the rest of his allies to alert them of intruders.

Kane gritted his teeth grimly, knowing that he and his men were in grave danger. "Hey!" he shouted over to one of the enemies, hoping that he could somehow make a bargain with them. One of the enemies took his musket, and with the butt of the weapon, knocked him out cold.

###

"Sir?"

Major Kane opened his eyes.

"We overheard this man talking about the Cave. He knows the way." One of the mercenaries declared triumphantly, and two others threw a man to the ground.

Kane rubbed his eyes. He must have fallen asleep and dreamt of that horrific period of time in his life when he had just learnt that his family had been killed. He had been having that nightmare more often recently, ever since he had embarked on his quest. Kane got up from his chair and walked towards the man who had been thrown to the dusty ground. "So, you know the way to the Cave of Wonders?"

The man looked around desperately for a way out.

"Don't bother trying to run. You're in an abandoned place at the edge of the city. There's no one to save you." Major Kane said calmly, as if reading the man's mind.

The Major and his mercenaries had reached the harbour of Agrabah hours ago and had settled in a secluded part of the city. They left half of the mercenaries back on the ship to avoid drawing too much attention as Kane did not want to have to deal with the royal guards of Agrabah or the King, whom he had heard many stories about. He had come to Agrabah for one specific purpose: to find the Cave of Wonders, and his mercenaries had gone out to search for locals who knew how to travel there while he waited in an abandoned house where his forces had set up camp. And now, his faithful mercenaries had brought him a local from the city of Agrabah who knew the way to the Cave of Wonders.

The Agrabah local looked at him in fear, and Kane could tell that the man knew something.

"Leave us." Kane ordered, pointing to the opening where the door used to stand, signalling for his mercenaries to clear out of the building.

The mercenaries walked out, leaving the man alone with Major Kane.

"I-I don't know a-anything about the cave." The man stuttered, failing to lie miserably.

Kane unsheathed his glock knife from his belt, and the sound of scraping caused the man to flinch in fear. "I was taught to read a man's eyes to see if he speaks truth or lie." He crouched down in front of the man, pointing the knife inches away from the man's eyes. "Your eyes betray you."

"Please, I'm just an honest t-t-tailor in the market s-square! I don't know anything about any caves!" the man begged.

"Then why did my men overhear you talking about the Cave of Wonders?" Kane was starting to lose his patience.

"It's j-just a myth, an old legend! It's not r-r-real!"

A surge of anger swept over Kane and he felt the bloodlust suddenly rising again. He plunged the knife into the man's thigh, causing the man to yell and clutch his leg in agony. "I didn't come all the way across the world to be told that the Cave of Wonders isn't real." Kane growled, the totem on his ring finger glowing red. He ripped the blade out of the man's thigh viciously, and the man continued to writhe, lying on the ground and clutching his wounded leg.

Major Kane threw the knife violently on the ground, and the tip of the blade stuck to the ground, etched inches away from the man's head. His fingers tightened around the man's neck, and lifted him off the ground with his right arm. The Major clenched his left fist and the totem glowed red, slowly sucking the air out of the man's lungs.

The man gasped and struggled to breathe while dangling in the air, feet off the ground.

"How do I get to the Cave of Wonders?" Kane tightened his grip on the man's throat.

"Alright! I-I'll tell you!" the man croaked in defeat, and Kane let go of the man. He dropped to the ground and clutched his chest, breathing deeply.

Major Kane looked at the man in disdain. "Show me."

Santos and the other mercenaries waited outside the house by the horses that they had stolen when they had arrived in Agrabah. They heard a scream echo from inside the abandoned building and saw a faint red glow.

"D'you think the boss is losing it?" one of the mercenaries asked.

"Ever since he got the totem from that island, he's been losing his temper more often." Another mercenary replied.

Santos looked at them. "Don't say stuff like that." he hissed. "With that totem, he can hear you from miles away. Do you want him to kill you?"

At that moment, the Agrabah local was tossed through the doorway of the building, and he sprawled on the ground in front of the mercenaries.

The Major walked through the doorway into the sunlight, his knife in hand.

Santos and the others could see that the knife was blood stained, and Kane wiped the knife against his pants before sticking it back in his belt compartment.

"Get him on a horse." Major Kane ordered, pointing to the local who was still clutching his leg in pain.

The mercenaries tied the man's wrists together putting him on a horse and sticking the reins in his hands, while Kane saddled up his own horse. "Lead the way."

With his hands bound, the blood stained man looked back at the Major in fear, as the rest of the mercenaries climbed onto their own horses.

"Try to escape, and I'll crush your windpipe without laying a hand on you." Kane warned, his totem glowing red for the man to see.

The mercenaries, who had saddled up by then, looked at each other. They had never seen the Major this bloodthirsty before. Maybe he really was losing it.

###

The night sky was littered with numerous stars, and the air was cold as opposed to a few hours earlier when it was scorching hot in bright daylight. Major Kane, his troops and the Agrabah local traversed across the sand dunes on their horses, braving the freezing weather.

Kane stared out in front of the local who was leading the way, at the vast landscape of sand and dried shrubs that lay in front of him. _That outburst he had displayed while he had interrogated the local was horrifying._ He had planned to only threaten the man to get what he wanted without having to hurt him. Somehow, he had lost control of his temper and the bloodlust took over again. _That shouldn't have happened._ Kane frowned, displeased with himself as he remembered torturing the local. Fortunately, the man had given up the information quickly and he somehow managed to find the restrain to stop himself from killing the man in cold blood. However, the bloodlust was getting stronger and soon, he wouldn't be able to suppress it any longer.

"There."

Major Kane looked up, and saw the local pointing ahead. He looked beyond the man, and saw the Cave of Wonders about two hundred metres away from them.

"Now you w-will let me go?" the Agrabah local asked cautiously.

The Major continued to stare at the cave, unable to believe that he was finally seeing the Cave of Wonders with his very own eyes, a legendary mystical place that he wasn't fully sure existed, until now. He waved his hand, signalling for his mercenaries to release the man.

Santos dismounted from his horse and walked over to the horse which the man sat on. He beckoned for the man to lower his hands which had been tied, and used a knife to slice the ropes, freeing the man. Now free, the man rode away quickly from the mercenaries before the Major could change his mind. As the man rode away down the sand dune, Kane turned to Santos and nodded with conviction.

The right hand man nodded back in acknowledgement. He hurriedly walked back to his own horse, and reached into his bag. Pulling out a long range rifle, he fixed his scope onto the weapon. He adjusted his scope and fine tuned it expertly, before lying down on the sand with his bag and rifle, propping the rifle up against the bag securely. He looked through the scope, aiming at the local who had ridden quite a distance away, before pulling the trigger and firing a single shot. The bullet whizzed through the air and found its mark on the man's skull. From such a far distance away, Santos could see the faint figure of the man fall from his horse, as it rode away without him, leaving the man sprawled on the sand. Santos sighed, dismantling his weapon and standing up. "It is done."

Major Kane looked back at Santos with remorse. _It had to be done. The man could not be allowed to talk to the authorities back in the city._ Kane could not risk King Aladdin learning about his journey to find the Cave of Wonders. The King had specifically passed a law forbidding anyone from entering the Cave of Wonders, as he himself had an encounter in the cave many years ago before he had become king, and had barely survived the dangerous escapade. Major Kane knew that the King's army was a force to be reckoned with, and that he would not be able to escape without losing a great number of his forces. That was a risk he could not afford to take as he still needed them for the next stage of his quest.

Removing his jacket, Kane gave it to Santos. He walked towards the cave, leaving his men and the horses a distance away. As he neared the entrance of the cave, the ground beneath him began to shake, and the sand rose, merging together to form the image of a huge tiger.

The "Sand Tiger" opened its eyes, which glowed red like fire. "I am the guardian of the Cave of Wonders," the Sand Tiger opened its mouth, voice booming as it looked down at Kane. "You seek to enter the Cave of Wonders?"

"Yes." Major Kane replied confidently.

"Then you know that those unworthy of entering the Cave shall perish within it?"

"Yes." Kane remained steadfast. He had prepared for this moment for years, and he wasn't going to be denied.

"Very well. Proceed." The Sand Tiger opened its mouth wide and sand fell from around it to reveal the opening of the cave. Major Kane took a deep breath. _Finally._ He stepped into the Cave of Wonders, disappearing down below the sand.

Writer's Commentary:

I decided to start this chapter off by throwing you readers into the past, to see for yourselves who Major Kane used to be before the present events. Painting him as a military leader wasn't exactly hard, as I drew on my own experiences in the military to write his story. I tried my best to humanize Kane by bringing you guys to the time right after he finds out that his family has died.

Hopefully it worked in highlighting the stark contrast between Kane in the past and the present. What a different person he has become in the span of a few years. But as you will discover in later chapters, it is circumstances that shape who he becomes eventually. We end off the flashback on a cliffhanger of sorts. The death of his family is just the beginning of his sufferings.

In the present, we see him interrogate a poor local from the city of Agrabah, and I purposely put this scene right after the flashback to show how much Kane has changed as a person. The snake totem plays a huge part in his change, as he has become more bloodthirsty and temperamental ever since he acquired it from the island. We get to see things from the eyes of Santos as the mercenaries discuss the state of their masters' mind. We also learn that Santos is from the Major's past, and that he has seen Kane change from a good man to the evil warlord he is now. I hope to explore Santos more in the coming chapters, as there's so much to juggle, what with our heroes' character arcs, squabbles, and the Major's own internal conflict.

Meanwhile, Kane finally finds the Cave, and gets one step closer to the completion of his quest. We'll be exploring the Cave of Wonders next. I'm actually pretty excited for what the Cave looks like and the challenges that it might hold for Major Kane.


	9. Chapter 9: Kane's Bargain, Tension

Chapter Nine

Kane's Bargain / Tension

Major Kane cautiously descended down the sand steps, feeling each small impression he made in the sand as he placed his boots on the steps leading down into the cave. It somewhat reminded him of the drab cave in Motunui where he had acquired the snake totem that he now wore on his finger. As he descended further down into the depths of the Cave of Wonders, it seemed to get darker. Kane lightly clenched his left fist and the totem on his finger glowed red, illuminating the surroundings so that he could see where he was heading. As he reached the bottom of the sand steps, he touched down onto more sand. He held his left hand above his head, and looked around him. The cave was huge, extending to far beyond where his eyes could see. The cave was littered with heaps of gold, sparkling treasure and other valuable mystical trinkets.

Kane wasn't surprised though, as he had read and heard much about the Cave of Wonders before he had begun his quest. He knew that the cave held many treasures, which also served as temptation. _So that was what the Sand Tiger meant by worthiness._ If anyone attempted to claim any of the treasures for themselves apart from the original item that they had set out to obtain, they would be deemed unworthy and remain trapped in the Cave till they died of starvation. Major Kane looked around, and saw numerous skeletons scattered across the Cave. _There was the incontestable proof of their unworthiness._ There was only one man who had managed to escape the Cave intact many years ago, and that was King Aladdin. _Kane was going to be the second._ He knew very well that he would be deemed worthy, as he had come to the Cave of Wonders for one specific purpose, for one specific item. The gold, the treasures and everything else held no value to him. _What did gold mean to a man like him? He had no use for riches._ He saw himself on a path headed towards his destiny, and it had nothing to do with wealth. He only needed one thing from the Cave, and he was going to get it and leave intact. After spending years waiting for this moment and travelling across the world to find the Cave of Wonders, he would not be stopped by petty ambitions or temptations. _He would not be denied his destiny. _

Looking around, Major Kane ventured further into the cave, stepping over the skeletons that were strewn across the sand and gold. He could sense that the item he was looking for was not in this part of the cave. He came to the end of the room, and walked through a hole in the wall and stood on a stone ledge leading to a larger part of the cave. Kane looked down to see a steep drop into a pit of molten lava. The molten lava was bright orange and it lit up the cave, making the red light from Kane's totem seem like a candlelight compared to the sun.

The pit spanned across at least three hundred metres, and there seemed to be no way to get across to the other side of the pit to the entrance of another part of the cave. _Well, at least no way possible for normal men._ Kane clenched his fist again, and the red light that used to illuminate the cave became an aura that engulfed the Major, causing him to levitate above the ledge. With sheer force of willpower, he levitated forward and away from the precipice. He looked down at the lava beneath his feet, with no trace of fear in his eyes. _Nothing was going to stand in his way. Not even a pit of molten lava._ He floated over the large pit towards the other side of the precipice, and landed gracefully on the opposite stone ledge. The red aura around Kane disappeared, and he walked through the opening in the wall.

Kane walked into another even larger room of the cave, which had a very high ceiling made out of rock. Up on the walls laid shelves upon shelves of mystical trinkets, and the ground was covered in more gold. There were only a few skeletons in this room, much less compared to the numerous ones in the first room. He figured that while some men managed to somehow make it across the pit of lava, they eventually fell prey to the temptations that lay in the room that he was now in. _He was not going to make the same mistake._ Kane's eyes darted round, looking for what he had come for, sensing that it was in this very room. The totem gave him a sixth sense, helping him to know things that were not humanly possible. Kane's eyes looked to the ground, scanning among the sand and gold for the item. He stopped, and used his boot to sweep away the gold and the sand from a certain spot, and stooped down to the ground. _Ah, there it was._ He picked up a jet black trinket and dusted it off, and admired it.

_The Lamp of Jafar. At last._ Legend told of a wise royal advisor who was cunning, and sought to overthrow the King and rule Agrabah. He had sought out his own Lamp, using a young Aladdin to get the Lamp from the Cave of Wonders. After Jafar had succeeded in becoming King, Aladdin had tricked him into using his final wish to become an all powerful evil genie, and had trapped Jafar in his own Lamp. The Lamp of Jafar had been cast deep into the Cave of Wonders, buried where it was hoped that the Lamp would never be found, banishing Jafar the Genie forever. But now, Kane had found the Lamp of Jafar which had been buried for decades.

He rubbed the side of the black Lamp and a black mist escaped from the spout of the Lamp, rising into the air. The black mist however did not evaporate into the atmosphere, but instead bonded together, forming the image of a towering bearded man with red skin and black hair tied back into a small ponytail. Kane looked up at the genie in awe. "Jafar?"

The genie appeared confused and discombobulated, looking around cluelessly as if he didn't hear Kane calling him.

"Jafar?"

He heard Kane the second time, and looked at him in confusion, as if he was experiencing the five senses for the first time. "Where am I? Who am I?" Jafar asked in bewilderment, looking at the golden bracelets on his wrists, and then back at Kane.

Major Kane looked up at Jafar. "You are Jafar the Genie. You have been trapped in your Lamp for decades, that's why you're confused. Give it time to set in."

The genie clutched his head, trying to think. "I-I remember. That boy, Aladdin!"

"He banished you. And he's the King of Agrabah now."

Jafar looked up in anger, his eyes burning with rage. "I remember now." He looked down at Kane. "Who are you?"

_Finally, he was getting somewhere._ "My name is Major Kane. I have travelled across the world to find you, because I need your help." Kane replied.

"And why would I help you?"

"Because I am the one who found you, so I am now your master." Kane answered boldly. "You will grant me my three wishes, for it is your duty."

"Yes, Master." Jafar having no choice but to obey, bowed before Kane. "Just one thing I ask of you, Master." Jafar looked at Kane. "Allow me the opportunity to destroy Aladdin."

Kane looked back at Jafar. _This genie had passion, conviction, and purpose. Not unlike himself._ "You and I are not dissimilar," Kane began. "We both have a clear purpose and we see obstacles in our way. Help me with mine, and I promise you, I will use the final wish to free you so that you may seek vengeance against King Aladdin."

Jafar nodded gratefully, and noticed the snake totem on the Major's left ring finger. "That totem," Jafar pointed to it. "It channels your black magic. If you're already able to tap into the dark arts, why do you need me?"

"I may know how to harness the darkness, but some things are above me." Kane explained. "You were a sorcerer once. And yet you craved the power of the Genie."

Jafar scoffed, looking at the bracelets on his wrists that signified his bondage to the Lamp. "Look where that landed me."

"I fear that the more I use the black magic, the more it changes me into something horrifying."

Jafar sighed. "Alright then, there are only two rules, Master. First, you only have three wishes, after which I will be rendered useless to you. And second, you cannot wish for loved ones to be brought back from the dead. That is a task I cannot perform for you."

Major Kane looked at Jafar and nodded in agreement. "I understand."

###

Santos and the rest of the mercenaries waited by their horses, freezing in the cold night.

"So d'you really think the Major is going nuts?" the first mercenary who asked the question back in the city asked again.

Santos looked at him. "I don't know." Santos grimaced. "I have to admit he's wilder than before, ever since he got that snake totem from the island."

"Wilder?" the mercenary scoffed. "Before the totem, he didn't even want us to bring our weapons to 'deter' the villagers. And now he's torturing people!"

"Yeah, all that black magic stuff is messing with his head." another mercenary chimed in.

"The only reason why we're on this crew is cuz the Major promised to release us with riches when the quest was done." the first mercenary continued. "And now, at this point, the only reason we don't leave the crew is cuz he'll enjoy killing us slowly if we do!"

"Look!" Santos said. "There's nothing we can do about it. I've known the Major a long time, from our days back in the navy and on The Hanedale. You remember too, don't you?" he pointed to one of the other mercenaries, who nodded. "He used to be a good soldier who cared for his crew. But if he's changed, what can we do about it? We just have to follow his orders and hope that at the end of his quest, he will keep his promise to us."

As the other mercenaries continued to chat among themselves, Santos sighed. He had only said that to try to give the others hope. He was fairly certain that the man that he had once known five years ago on board the naval ship was gone. The Major, who had offered him solace when they were both grieving the loss of their families in the wake of the terrorist attack mounted against their village, had changed into a ruthless kleptomaniac who sought after mystical items for his insane quest. Santos could no longer recognize the military leader who he had once looked up to.

At that moment, the mouth of the Sand Tiger opened, and out from the darkness of the cave walked a tall figure. Santos and the others squinted at the figure. It was Major Kane, with the Lamp of Jafar in one hand, his face stoic and unflinching.

"So, you proved yourself worthy." the Sand Tiger boomed, his voice echoing and eyes glowing like fire. "Congratulations." With that, the Sand Tiger crumbled and disintegrated before the men that stood before it.

"I have what I came for." Kane said in satisfaction, placing the Lamp of Jafar into his bag. "Move out."

The mercenaries knelt on the sand with their right knee to the ground and their right arm crossing over to the opposite shoulder with clenched fists, their heads bowed, before getting up and saddling up their horses.

Kane let out a small smile. He had completed the second part of his quest. Two mystical items down, two to go.

###

Elsa sat on the deck and placed both hands over her ears. Moana and Tracy were locked in a heated argument over on the other side of the deck. Tracy had been experimenting with her magic while Moana had been brooding not far away. Somehow, Tracy's magic got out of hand due to her lack of expertise, and Moana ended up with purple goo in her hair. She was wary of Tracy before, but Tracy's magic mishap was the last straw for Moana, and she had gotten up, ready to skewer Tracy alive.

"What, you couldn't do your sorcery somewhere else?" Moana shouted. "You just had to practice near me didn't you?"

"It was an accident!" Tracy protested indignantly. "How was I supposed to know that my magic would get out of hand and spray goo all over you?"

"I'm willing to bet you knew," Moana shoved Tracy with hostility.

Tracy smacked her hand away. "Hey, I already said I was sorry! What more do you want? What's your problem anyway?"

Moana pointed her finger close to Tracy's face, much to her annoyance. "My only problem is with you, witch."

"Enjoying the show?"

Elsa looked up to see Maui approaching her and silently groaned. She just wanted to be left alone in peace to enjoy the quiet night, but then the two girls had begun quarrelling, disrupting the quiet, and now Maui, the talkative demigod, had shown up. _At this rate, she was never going to get her peace and quiet!_

"What's up with them?" Maui asked, sitting down beside Elsa.

"They want nothing to do with each other," Elsa replied, hoping that Maui would get the extremely indirect hint. "Why don't you help break up the fight?" Elsa held her breath, hoping that Maui would at least prove himself useful in stopping the two girls from destroying the ship.

"Nah." Maui chortled. "I would rather watch the show and see how this all pans out."

Elsa rolled her eyes and exhaled quietly in annoyance. It was going to be a long night.

"Oh, and about yesterday," Maui started, sounding slightly hesitant. "I'm sorry if I pushed you too far. When I asked about your story, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It's fine. I would prefer if we not talk about it." Elsa replied shortly.

"I mean, if you do wanna talk to someone, I'm always here to lend a listening ear." Maui beamed brightly, but Elsa acted as if she didn't hear him.

She melted a little on the inside, feeling horrible for being so cold towards the friendly demigod, but she really did just want to be left alone. Besides, she was afraid that if she started to talk to him again about her problems, she would get emotional, and she didn't want anyone to see her that way. She had been brought up to conceal her emotions in order to control her powers, and she also didn't want to risk letting her powers getting out of hand again. _Well, given Maui's outgoing and thick headed nature, he wouldn't take her icy attitude too personally. At least, she hoped he wouldn't. _

"What's going on up here?!" Melody cried, running up onto the deck fully geared up with her bow and her quiver on her back. She had been trying to sleep down in the ship's quarters, only to be awakened by yelling and screeching from the deck above. Down from her quarters, it sounded like the ship was being ambushed by pirates and her friends fighting them off. To her dismay, she saw Tracy and Moana trading blasts of magic, purple fields of energy from Tracy, and yellow beams of light from Moana.

Fortunately, both sides were not strong enough in magic manipulation, for if they had been, they most likely would have brought the ship down. The two girls' magic sparked and faded, failing them when they needed them the most. Tracy had reverted back to her octopid form, her blue tentacles fending off each of Moana's inconsistent light magic blasts. She returned the attack with her own spurts of black magic, which proved to be equally ineffective.

Just as they were about to clash with both of their magic blasts at the same time, Melody ran towards them, and shot two flat-headed arrows at Moana and Tracy. The arrows, which were attached to bolases, wrapped around both girls and incapacitated them, preventing them from mounting any further attacks that could endanger the ship and everyone else on it. "What's wrong with the both of you?" Melody glared at Tracy and Moana, who continued to stare daggers at each other. "Do you want to destroy the ship and sink us to the bottom of the ocean?"

"I'll survive." Tracy replied nonchalantly, and Melody ignored her, turning to Elsa.

"Help me out here?" Elsa shook her head quickly. The last thing she wanted was to get involved in whatever heated argument the others were having. She just wanted her peace and quiet.

Melody sighed. "Maui?"

"Well, to be fair, I wasn't here when the argument started, so I don't know who's to blame."

Melody rolled her eyes. Since no one was going to help her out, she was going to have to attempt to resolve the conflict by herself. She looked at Tracy and Moana, who had both simmered down, and cautiously untied them. Melody finished untying Tracy, and began working on Moana's bolas.

As the bolas loosened, Moana violently tugged it off herself, not waiting for Melody to finish untying her. "Stay out of my way." She hissed, lashing a finger out in Tracy's direction.

Tracy had already morphed back into her human form, and was walking towards the stairs leading down to the deck. She completely ignoring Moana's last spat.

"I think it's time we headed down too." Maui whispered to Elsa.

For the first time, she agreed with him. It was better that she left, as she figured that she wasn't going to get her peace and quiet that night, and that she had a better chance down in her own quarters. Elsa and Maui got up off the beam of the deck, and walked down the stairs to the quarters, leaving Melody and Moana alone on the deck.

"What were you thinking, starting a fight on the ship?" Melody asked Moana, who was still red with rage.

"You don't get the right to lecture me," Moana replied rudely. "You lost that right when you brought that sea witch onto this ship."

"Hey, she's not a bad person," Melody protested. "I'm sure that whatever she did to make you angry was an accident. She's not like other sea witches."

"Yeah, sure, like you've had the luxury of meeting other sea witches," Moana retorted.

Melody bit her lip. She _had_ met another sea witch before, Tracy's mother in fact, but she didn't see the point in bringing that up. "Look, when I found Tracy in the Bermuda Triangle, all she wanted to do was break free from her family's cycle of violence. By bringing her on board, she has a shot at redemption. Isn't that why we're all here? A chance to right our wrongs?"

"You always see the best in people, don't you, Princess?" Moana continued sarcastically.

"What's your point?" Melody was starting to get a little irritated.

"Your little optimism is going to cause our downfall. I mean, what did you expect? You're bringing a failed sea witch to take down the Major."

"What's your problem?" Melody could feel herself losing patience, having had enough of being antagonized by the hot headed village girl.

"My problem," Moana began, staring at Melody with hostility. "Is that I never asked for any of you to help." With that, Moana brushed past an incensed Melody, heading down to her own quarters.

Melody put the two arrows back into her quiver, exhaling deeply. _Truth be told, she did not like Moana._ Sure, Melody felt sorry for Moana who had just lost her people to the Major's attack, but she was being so hostile when she didn't have to be. She would just have to try to stay out of Moana's way to avoid further arguments on their quest.

Writer's Commentary:

To be honest, this was actually a tough chapter to write, as I had no clue how to describe the Cave of Wonders. I had to dig down pretty deep in creating an underground magical world for Major Kane to find his way through as the chapter progressed. For the first time, I had no idea what Kane would encounter next, and I winged it as Kane pushed further on. But it was fun, for sure. By having Kane resist all manner of temptation, I proved that he was a man of superior will to the common folk, many of which had died in the Cave. I wanted to paint Kane not only as a formidable man, but also one with extreme willpower, not letting anything get in the way of his goals. Money means nothing to a man like him, for his goals are bigger than riches. I enjoyed writing about how Kane knew about the legend of Aladdin who had become King of Agrabah, and also re-introducing Jafar the Genie from the movie.

Something to note about this continuity, I chose to ignore the second movie in the franchise "The Return of Jafar", as it kind of undermined where I needed the character of Jafar to go. So, just take it that this story takes place after the events of the first movie, and that the second movie doesn't exist in this timeline.

The second part of the chapter was a true joy to write. We see more conflict between our heroes. Moana and Tracy simply can't get along, and Melody tries to break up the fight. Meanwhile, Maui takes another shot at a conversation with Elsa, which doesn't exactly go any better than the first time. We get an insight into Elsa's thoughts, and understand why she's being so cold. She wants to keep her emotions in check by shutting her problems and others out. She's afraid that her powers will get out of control if she allows her emotions to run wild.

And then, Melody confronts Moana and cement their hostile relationship. This adds another dimension of conflict to the already rocky relationships that our warriors share. How are they going to get along and face the Major together?


	10. Chapter 10: The Marketplace

Chapter Ten

The Marketplace

Moana woke up to sunlight bursting through the dirty glass windows of her quarters. Remembering what had happened the night before, she groaned, feeling absolutely horrible about being so hostile to Tracy and Melody. She knew she had overreacted to Tracy's magic mishap and Melody's noble attempt to resolved the conflict, but still, she couldn't bring herself to apologize to them. She got off the mattress and changed into a dark red tank top and white shorts. It felt weird to her, as she was used to wearing clothing made out of materials found on her island. Pulling on a pair of boots, she was impressed by how comfortable they felt. She walked out of her quarters towards the stairs leading up to the deck. Climbing to the top of the stairs, she walked out onto the deck to find Maui gazing out into the horizon.

Maui sensed her presence and turned around. "Morning, Moana." He grinned.

"Morning." Moana replied emptily, picking up a packet from the stack of combat rations that Melody had left behind on the deck the night before for their breakfast.

"You know," Maui began cautiously. "You were pretty nasty last night. What happened?"

Moana looked at Maui. "Long story short, the sea witch couldn't control her magic and I ended up with purple goo stuck in my hair," Moana ran her hand through her hair. "It took me ages to wash it all off last night!"

"Yeah I get it, but still," Maui replied boldly. "Your little outburst was kind of excessive. I mean, don't you think you were a little too harsh on Tracy and Melody?"

"I know, I know," Moana rolled her eyes. "Okay, I admit, I was a jerk last night, but can you really blame me?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, don't tell me you're not suspicious of that sea witch?" Moana blurted out rather loudly.

"Well, the prophecy never did say anything about an octopid joining us to fight the Major." Maui mused.

"Exactly!" Moana cried. "And Melody brought her on board without a second thought!"

"Hey, Melody can be trusted." Maui took on a slightly more defensive tone. "She's been an integral part of this journey so far."

"And that's another thing," Moana continued. "I never asked for a team of strangers from around the world to help me in my vendetta against the Major." Maui paused, at a loss for what to say next.

"I was perfectly content with feeling sorry for myself back on the island, but you convinced me to get back in the fight against the Major. I thought for sure you meant just the two of us! But then you rallied an 'alliance of warriors' from across the world, claiming that they were a part of your beloved 'prophecy'." Moana stared at Maui crossly. Deep down, she was glad to get all that off her chest.

"Moana," Maui began, after waiting for her to simmer down a little. "You and I both know that there's no way we can take on the Major alone. We've already tried that, remember? With this team, at least we stand a chance now."

"But of all people, Tracy and Melody?" Moana shot back rashly.

Now Maui was confused. "Wait, Melody? Tracy I understand, but what's your beef with Melody?"

"Forget it." Moana pursed her lips, realizing that she had let her tongue slip. She didn't like Melody, but she didn't want Maui to know the real reason why. She resented Melody's optimism and cheeriness, especially since Moana had just lost her people. Sure, Melody had offered her condolences, but she had a constant light and hope about her that Moana just couldn't stand to be around. _Everyone else seemed to love her though, even her best friend, Maui!_ And then, if that wasn't enough, Melody had added fuel to the fire by bringing a totally shady sea witch on board their dangerous mission. Melody had been completely trusting of Tracy, while Moana simply saw her as a liability. This was something Moana couldn't understand. _How could Melody see the best in everyone, especially a sea witch?_ She couldn't explain it, but there was just something about Tracy that felt scratchy to her. She shook her head. "Where's the rest?" she asked, eager to change the topic.

"Elsa's brooding in her quarters as usual, and Melody's talking to Tracy." Maui replied. He knew that Moana was hiding something, but decided not to say anything. _Not yet, at least. _

###

Down in Tracy's quarters, Melody stood leaning against the window with arms folded while Tracy sat on her bed cross-legged. They had been going at it for the past half an hour with no apparent progress. "Then again, you know that you didn't have to fight with Moana last night. She's still grieving the loss of her entire village."

Tracy rolled her eyes. "I already told you, I apologized. It's not my fault village girl wanted to pick a fight with me over an accident."

"Yeah, but even so," Melody continued. "Practicing your magic up on the deck?"

"What did you expect? I'm Morgana's daughter after all. Magic is in my blood." Tracy retorted.

"And yet, somehow goo ended up in Moana's hair." Melody raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, fine, I could use a little more practice. Never did get the hang of the whole sea witch thing." Tracy admitted.

"Look, you're not in the Bermuda Triangle anymore, so there's no need to keep acting like a sea witch." Melody replied with concern, walking closer to Tracy, who was still sitting on her bed.

"But see, that's the thing. I _am_ a sea witch. I can't change that."

Melody sighed, seeing that the conversation wasn't getting anywhere.

"I'll get a better grip on my magic, alright?"

At that moment, Tracy and Melody heard a knock on the door.

It opened, and Elsa peeked in cautiously, wary that a magic blast would suddenly be hurled her way. "Maui is up on the deck shouting for us. I think we've reached."

The three girls headed up the stairs to the deck, to see Maui pointing at something. They looked and saw that they were fast approaching land. "Agrabah." Melody turned and picked up a couple of packets of combat rations, holding them out. "Everyone grab a pack. We're going to need the energy for whatever's ahead of us today."

As they approached Agrabah's harbour, Moana lifted up her arms and narrowed her eyes, her eyebrows knitted together in concentration. The waves that had continuously pushed the ship through the water over the past day finally started to break apart, causing the ship to lose momentum and slow down. A new wave formed at the front of the ship, pushing against the ship's trajectory, bringing the ship to a gradual stop right in front of the pier.

Maui dropped the ship's anchor into the water and tied a rope to the ship's beam. He jumped out of the ship and landed on the pier. After tying the other end of the rope securely to the pier, he signalled to the others that it was safe to dismount from the ship.

The girls dismounted from the ship and joined Maui on the pier.

"There," Moana pointed at another ship, her tribal spear in hand. "The Major's ship. He's here in Agrabah."

Melody placed her disassembled recurve bow into her spacious quiver, and covered it with a detachable flap to conceal the arrows and the bow inside. "Maybe bringing your spear into the city isn't such a good idea." She said to Moana cautiously.

"Why not?" Moana looked at her spear in puzzlement. _Was something wrong with it?_

"Our goal is to blend in with the crowd. Wielding a spear is just going to attract unwanted attention."

"Fine." Moana shrugged and tossed her spear back onto the ship.

"We have to assume that the Major has already found the Cave of Wonders and has gotten whatever he was looking for. He's got no choice but to come back here through the marketplace, so we'll blend in and try to cut him off in there."

"Wait, why the marketplace?" Maui asked. "Isn't it crowded in the morning?"

"The harbour is pretty big," Elsa remarked, looking around at the harbour. "If we wait for the Major here, he could come from any direction."

"She's right," Melody continued. "The Major doesn't know we're here. We need the element of surprise, so the marketplace is our best bet. I know there's going to be a lot of people there, but I think we don't really have a choice. It's a necessary risk we're going to have to take, but just be careful to keep the fighting away from the civilians."

"We're gonna need a lookout," Maui chimed in. "To give us a heads up when the Major is approaching."

"Right, so who's going to do that?" Melody asked.

"Not me." Tracy said quickly.

Elsa looked at Melody. "I'll do it." _Being the lookout meant that she wouldn't have to be a part of the action, and being involved in a fight was the last thing she wanted right now. This was actually a good deal. _

"There looks like a good spot to watch the marketplace." Moana pointed to a flat roof of a shophouse that was elevated above most of the other buildings. The town of Agrabah generally had short buildings, with the exception of the royal palace.

"We're going to need you to be on standby too," Melody added as they began to walk inland from the pier. "If you spot us getting overwhelmed, use your powers to level the playing field. It looks like a clear line of sight from the roof to the marketplace."

"Alright." Elsa agreed as they arrived at the entrance of the marketplace. _She hoped that it would not come to that. Maybe Melody and the others would be able to handle everything on their own, then she wouldn't need to step in and risk having her powers spiral out of control. _

"Wait, one last thing," Moana stopped Elsa as she began to walk away. "How are you going to warn us when you see the Major nearby?"

Elsa raised her palm, and snow fell from above them, a cold breeze subtly blowing against Moana and the others who stood before her.

Melody smiled reassuringly at Elsa, and she nodded back lightly in acknowledgement. The Snow Queen walked towards her lookout point above the marketplace. Her heart pounded in her chest. _This was it._ This was her chance to prove to herself that her powers could be used for good. She really hoped that Melody was right in seeing something more in her than just a monster. Walking into an alleyway, she looked up at the roof of her designated building. She couldn't possibly take the conventional route of entering the building and using the stairs to get to the roof as she needed to avoid attracting attention.

Elsa looked around, and saw that the alleyway was empty and that no one was watching. Crouching and pointing her hands towards the ground, strong blasts of ice came from her hands, making contact with the ground. The ice anchored into the ground, and rose back towards her palms. The pressure of the blasts moving back towards her lifted her up into the air. As she reached the roof, she angled her palms. Her trajectory shifted, and she landed on the roof of the shophouse gracefully. _Okay, now where was the rest of the team?_ Elsa looked over the top of the roof at the marketplace below. It was extremely packed with locals running their morning errands with rival merchants shouting loudly to be heard above one another. The marketplace was filled with many colours of various goods: fruits, clothing, meat, bread and even trinkets for tourists. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, squinting to try to make out where her team was. _There._ She spotted Melody and the others waiting in one of the alleyways with a brown goat.

"Remind me again why I have to do this?" Maui complained, his tone filled with irritation.

Tracy chuckled, totally unfazed by the demigod's transformation into a goat.

"We need to avoid attracting too much attention." Moana explained.

"Can't have you running around in your palm leaves." Melody added, stifling her laughter.

Maui groaned. _This was outright humiliating._ He had already been Melody's horse back in Arendelle and had made a complete fool of himself. He thought that was horrible enough, but now, he had to shape-shift into a goat in order to blend into Agrabah's culture of locals keeping domesticated goats. _How mortifying. _

Elsa smiled, humoured by the sight of Maui as a brown goat.

"Hey!"

She spun round quickly like a cat, and saw a man standing on another roof a few shophouses away. He wore a jacket, covering his military vest, armed with a combat knife and a musket. _He had to be one of the Major's mercenaries for sure. _To her horror, the man began running across his rooftop towards her. _This wasn't part of the plan!_ Elsa panicked, forgetting that she needed to keep watch over the marketplace. All she could think about was getting away from the man. S_he wasn't prepared to fight! _She looked around desperately. The roofs of the various shophouses seemed to be rather close to one another, which her pursuer obviously knew, since he was having an easy time leaping across the rooftops to reach her. Elsa took in a deep breath, looking at the shophouse roof next to her. _The roof didn't seem all that far away. _She took a few steps back, and ran towards the edge of her roof, leaping into the air. _Please don't fall, please don't fall._ She landed on the roof of the next shophouse clumsily. _That wasn't too bad. _

"Stop!" Santos shouted. He had not expected to see anyone on the roofs other than himself, especially not a young woman whom he was now chasing across the rooftops. Major Kane had sent him ahead to the marketplace as a scout to make sure the coast was clear and to watch the marketplace from the rooftops to ensure that the mercenaries would have a safe passage back to the ship without having to face any new threats. Santos had thought that it was just paranoia on the Major's part, but now he understood why. Apparently, someone else had the same idea.As he leapt across the rooftops in pursuit of the young woman, he mused to himself how he had gotten himself stuck in the middle of his current predicament.

Santos didn't even want to be on this mission with Major Kane, but he had no choice but to obey his every command for fear of being obliterated from existence by the Major's snake totem. In the beginning, before all this, he had stuck with Major Kane just to make sure that his old superior didn't lose his mind. However, over time, Santos had found himself being subjugated to Kane's insanity, having no choice but to do his bidding. "I said _stop_!"

Elsa looked over her shoulder to see the man still clamouring across the rooftops in hot pursuit of her. She had gained some confidence having successfully navigated her way across the various rooftops of the shophouses, using her powers to propel her for further distances at times, and she had picked up speed. She had a slight advantage over the man chasing her, as she wasn't bogged down by all the heavy military equipment the man was carrying. However, this also left her at a disadvantage, as she wasn't protected from attacks. If the man suddenly decided to shoot at her, she was certain that she would be done for. In fact, that puzzled her. _If he was really one of the Major's mercenaries, wouldn't he have done so already?_ She was under the impression that the Major and all his mercenaries were cold blooded ruthless killers.

Coming to the edge of the rooftop, Elsa forced herself to an abrupt stop, glancing to the next rooftop. It was rather far away, and she was sure that she couldn't make it across safely. She glanced back anxiously to see that the man was closing the gap fast. _There was no escape for her this time._ It looked like she was going to have to face him. _Get control, get control._ Elsa was terrified, but she knew that she couldn't afford to allow her emotions to get out of hand, as that meant she wouldn't be in control of her powers. She hoped that her powers would be enough to help her hold her own against the man and make it out of the confrontation alive.

Tensing her arms, two sharp icicles formed in her hands. _That was a little excessive, but she needed something to defend herself. Whatever that would work._ She wielded them like daggers, fearfully pointing them at the man who had finally caught up with her.

"Whoa, calm down!" Santos exclaimed, drawing his own knife in defence on pure instinct. He instantly regretted it, as he had only done that as a reflex action based on his training, and it obviously made the girl more frightened.

Without thinking, Elsa threw the icicle at Santos wildly, and he dodged it quickly. With the other icicle in hand, she lashed out at Santos. _Wait, the team!_ She had completely forgotten about her job as the lookout in her mad rush to escape!

Santos, who had trained in close quarter combat, expertly avoided the girl's attack and held on to her wrist with one hand, and quickly delivered a non-lethal chop to the same arm, causing her to drop her weapon.

Panicking and not thinking rationally about what she was doing, Elsa grabbed Santos' forearm with her other hand, and his arm began to freeze from her touch.

He let out a sharp yell in pain, pulling away from her quickly.

"I'm sorry!" she winced. _She had not meant to do that._

Santos looked at his arm, which had turned a shade of blue. He shook it, trying to get some feeling back into his arm, and walked towards Elsa again. "Listen to me!"

"Please, stay away from me!" In fear, Elsa held out her hands, palms facing the man. Unintentionally, a stream of ice erupted from her hands, knocking Santos backwards and he dropped to the ground in a daze. Elsa was shocked. She had let her powers get out of control, and yet somehow she hadn't ended up dead yet. Running quickly to the edge, she looked out over the rooftop that she was currently on, scanning for her teammates. Looking left and right frantically, her eyes finally found the team in the marketplace alleyway. She glanced around at the marketplace and a couple of buildings away, she spotted a group of foreigners clad in military gear that stood out distinctly from the Agrabah locals, walking through the marketplace towards the team's direction. _This was it._ Looking back at the team, Elsa stared hard in concentration, raising her palms to chest level.

A cold gust of wind enveloped Melody and the others from seemingly out of nowhere, and snow started to fall in the alleyway where they had hidden. "Is it getting cold?" Tracy remarked, biting into a fruit that she had discretely stolen from one of the merchants in the marketplace.

"That's the signal," Melody quickly started reassembling her recurve bow.

"He's here. Let's go." Moana slapped the fruit out of Tracy's hand, and Tracy glared at her in annoyance.

Melody finished assembling her bow, and undid the flap on her quiver. She walked out from the alleyway armed with her bow, followed by Maui, Moana and Tracy. Maui shape-shifted from the donkey back into his human form, and the warriors stood abreast in the middle of the path, just as Major Kane and his mercenaries came face to face with the warriors.

Writer's Commentary:

My challenge in writing this chapter was to make sure that the entire thing didn't feel like a Fast and Furious or James Bond movie. This one required several drafts and rewrites as it felt too spy-ish the first few times. I had to try to stay true to the characters and the world that they were in, having them solve problems and analyze situations in ways that made sense for their personalities.

For example, how would Elsa alert the others to Kane's arrival? Initially, I had Melody hand out communication devices to stay in touch, but then that didn't sit well at all. It was leaning into Avengers or spy territory. So to stay true to Elsa's character, I had her use her powers to warn the team, which felt a lot more synonymous with who she was. The chase sequence between Santos and Elsa was incredibly fun to write, and was half inspired by the Mombasa chase sequence from the film "Inception". Again, I had to make a conscious effort to write the chase sequence from the eyes of our heroine, Elsa. How would she escape from a mercenary and what would she be thinking in that moment?

I hope that it was a fun chapter to read, as I certainly had fun writing, especially that tiny bit where Moana antagonizes Tracy by dropping her fruit. We'll see what happens when Major Kane and his forces face off against the team for the first time.


	11. Chapter 11: First Fight

Chapter Eleven

First Fight

Major Kane and his mercenaries stood face to face with the team of warriors in the crowded Agrabah marketplace, unbudging in the scorching morning sun. He looked at the group of people standing in his path, recognizing two of them. "Moana," Kane remarked in surprise. "We meet again." He looked over at Maui, who stood close by. "Demigod," he nodded in acknowledgement.

Maui stared back at him with intensity written all over his face. _He wasn't about to get beaten by the Major again. _

Kane turned back to Moana, impressed and intrigued. "How did you get off the island?" He noticed that two new girls he didn't recognise were standing with Moana and Maui. "I see you rallied your friends after I left."

"Actually that was me," Maui cut in. He turned to Moana. "You're welcome."

###

Exhaling sharply, Elsa stepped away from the edge of the roof, relieved that she had managed to signal the team just in time. _The ball was in their court now._ Elsa turned back to see Santos getting up from the ground, having recovered from her previous onslaught. _What did she have to do to keep him down? _Fragments of ice began to form on her palms, and she raised her arms, pointing her hands at Santos, this time intentionally. It was a long shot, as he had already fallen prey to the attack once before, but she hoped that it would work a second time. Blasts of ice erupted from her hands and flew towards Santos who dodged them swiftly. He crouched and charged towards Elsa, who gasped and froze in shock. _There was no time for her to get out of the way! _

Santos tackled Elsa to the ground, quickly pinning her wrists firmly behind her back, not allowing her to retaliate with her powers. _Finally! The girl had been rather slippery and he had been having a tough time trying to get her to listen to him. All he wanted was to talk. _

###

"So, what, with these new friends, you think you're going to kill me?" Kane asked Moana in amusement.

"No," Melody said firmly, gripping her bow tightly. "But this ends now."

"This ends only when I'm done with my quest."

"That's not an option."

Kane was impressed. This girl, like Moana, had a fiery and brave spirit. He wanted to know who she was. "Who are you?" he asked.

"It doesn't matter who she is," Maui cut in, getting up in the Major's face. "What matters is that we're going to stop you."

"Maui," Melody looked firm. "It's alright." She signalled for him to stand down and back off. "I am Princess Melody of Denmark, and I've travelled across the ocean with these warriors to make sure that you don't destroy the world."

Kane appeared to be even more amused. "What makes you think I'm going to destroy the world?"

"Your quest to steal that totem and whatever it is you took from the Cave kinda gives it away." Tracy stated nonchalantly.

Kane looked at her. _There was more to this girl than what he could see on the surface. Something about her was strange and familiar._ "Obviously, to you lot I'm the villain whose goal is to destroy the world." Kane began, looking around at Maui and the girls. "But my goals are beyond your understanding, I don't expect you to get it. I'm not going to destroy the world. I'm going to restore it."

"Restore it to what?" Melody probed further, hoping that the Major would fully reveal his quest.

"Its former glory, of course. Surely, you don't think that the world is all right, do you, Princess?"

"What do you mean?" Melody asked. _They were actually getting somewhere. It almost seemed like Kane wanted to tell them his master plan. _

"Have you ever heard this quote by this famous philosopher?" Major Kane began, as the mercenaries stood behind him, prepared to strike at their master's command. "Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty, and dies with chaos," Kane quoted. "Terrorism, war, corruption, the list goes on. This world needs a reset. A cleansing, to be exact."

"How?"

"Surely you're familiar with the biblical story of Noah?"

Melody nodded. It was a story that her parents had read to her when she was much younger, and she had also heard it in Sunday School many times.

"As it was in the days of Noah," Kane quoted in answer to Melody's question. "The same philosopher also said that civilization exists by geological consent, subject to change without notice. I'm just fulfilling whatever he said."

"But that's impossible! No one can orchestrate a world threatening disaster. Not even demigods!" Maui protested.

"I can," Major Kane continued. "If I remove the mystical heart of Te Fiti, the world will start to crumble with natural disasters. And with the legendary trident from the kingdom of Atlantica, I will melt the ice caps in the North Pole and flood the earth."

Just hearing the Major's deadly plan sent chills down the spines of the warriors.

"You're going to murder billions of people in a wild gamble to stop the corruption of humanity!" Moana shifted into a fighting stance and Maui held out his arm to stop her before she could pounce on the Major.

"Why are you doing this?" Melody was genuinely perplexed. _He had to have a logical reason for wanting to go through all this trouble to achieve his goal. What had put him on the path of destruction? _

"That's personal."Kane looked at the warriors in front of him without an ounce of remorse, full of conviction. "I'm only speeding up what mankind is doing to themselves. Their sacrifice will be worth it. For out of the cleansing will arise a new spirit. The deaths of the corrupt will pave the way for the survivors to usher in a new era of peace and prosperity, free from war and terrorism that is ravaging this world."

"You can't be sure that mankind will change after your genocide!" Melody tried to reason with him.

"It's an idea worth dying for. I'll rather die a martyr than live on as a coward knowing that I could have made a difference in this world but didn't." Kane remained steadfast in his resolve, and Melody knew that she could not make him see reason.

"You're insane."

"No I'm not."

"We can't let you do this," Melody gripped her bow tighter, ready for what was coming next.

"That's not up to you," Kane replied. "I respect what all of you stand for," He looked around at the warriors in his path. "Trying to make a difference in this world, it's noble, but futile to resist. I'm giving you one chance to walk away."

Melody looked the Major dead in the eye. "We're going to stop you," She said with resolve, her free hand ready to reach for an arrow from her quiver.

"Don't force me to hurt any of you. Last chance." Kane clenched his left fist, and the snake totem on his ring finger glowed an ominous red. The locals in the marketplace saw the mystical red light, and started to move away quickly in fear, creating space around the two sides. Melody and the Major locked eyes, staring each other down in the middle of the marketplace.

Suddenly, a purple cloud of energy blasted the Major backwards, knocking him into the fruit stands. Melody turned around, and everyone looked at Tracy.

"What? We just gonna stand around talking all day?" Tracy shrugged.

_There was no turning back now._ Melody took an arrow from her quiver and placed the nock of it in her bow. She drew back her bow, anticipating the Major's command.

Major Kane stood up from the wreckage of fruits and broken tables, and sighed. He pointed his hand towards the direction of the warriors, signalling for his mercenaries to attack. The mercenaries drew their firearms and knives, charging towards Melody and the team.

Melody released the arrow, and it flew towards one of the mercenaries' weapon, disarming him. She ran forward with the rest of the warriors following behind her, and she landed a punch across the unarmed man's face. _The fight was on. _

###

Up on the rooftop of the shophouse, Elsa continued to struggle, trying to break free from Santos' iron grip.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." Santos tried to reassure her as he held her wrists behind her back, her face pressed against the ground.

"Then why did you chase me across the rooftops?" Elsa clenched her fists, and they became coated with ice, which extended up to her wrists. The ice became sharp and spiky, and Santos had no choice but to release his grip on her. She quickly stood up. _He wasn't going to catch her off guard again. _

"You ran," Santos reminded her. "I never intended to hurt you."

Elsa stared at him in disbelief, and formed another two sharp icicles in her hands. "Your weapons say otherwise."

Santos looked at his military gear. He tossed away his knife, and held out a hand, signalling to her that he wasn't about to attack, and then he crouched, laying his musket on the ground. He stood up and showed her his empty hands. "Better?"

Elsa lowered her icicles cautiously, not letting her guard down. "You work for the Major?"

"I do," Santos replied, approaching her cautiously, and she raised one icicle in paranoia. He reached her and with his hand, slowly placed it on the icicle and lowered it gently. "But I'm not like the rest."

"Why should I believe you?" Elsa asked apprehensively. If her experience with the cunning Prince Hans months ago had yielded anything beneficial, it would be that she learnt not to be too trusting of anyone.

"You're right. You've no reason to trust me. I'm a mercenary working for a madman after all." He gazed down at his boots and Elsa looked at him.

"What do you want with me?"

"Nothing. I was up here on orders from the Major to keep a lookout. And then I saw you," Santos replied. "Who are you?"

"Elsa, Queen of Arendelle."

"Queen?" Santos had somehow gotten the impression that she was of royal descent, and he was right. "What are you doing out here in all this chaos, away from your kingdom?"

"As you've seen, I have powers. I was recruited to help stop the Major." Elsa replied.

"You can't."

Elsa looked up, not expecting to hear that.

"There's no stopping him. Please get out of here while you still can. Before he kills you." Santos looked at her, filled with genuine concern for this young woman with mystical powers.

"We can handle him." Elsa replied. Deep down, she wasn't sure that they could.

"You can't. He's a monster." Santos looked down from the rooftop to see the Major bellowing as a red aura erupted from his totem, destroying the tables and tent structures in the marketplace. "Maybe once upon a time he was a good man, but not anymore. He's going to destroy the world."

###

Moana grunted, standing up from the ground where she had been knocked down by several mercenaries. She grabbed a staff from one of the nearby merchant tables that still stood intact, and charged towards the Major. "You killed my family!"

Major Kane unsheathed his sword, which was a Falchion, and fended off Moana's attack with ease.

"You destroyed my village!" Moana shouted, swinging her staff at her most hated enemy.

Major Kane avoided her strike elegantly and moved around her with ease with one hand behind his back.

She spun round, sweat mingled with tears. "Do you have any idea what you did to me?" she choked through her tears, eyes filled with rage.

"I'm truly sorry, Moana. I will live with that regret for the rest of my life," Kane said with genuine remorse in his voice. "But you can't kill me. Stop this now, before it's too late." Kane was afraid that his bloodlust would take over again.

Moana charged towards Kane again, staff raised and ready to strike and Kane stepped to the side, using her own momentum against her to knock her to the ground.

She sprawled on the ground, the sword falling out of her hand. In a desperate last attempt, she turned to face Major Kane, and pointed her palm at him. A yellow ray of energy blasted out of her hand and hit Kane, who blocked it with his own brand of black magic. Her white magic sputtered and waned, and eventually the red aura of black magic overpowered it. The black magic hit Moana hard, causing her to flop to the ground unconscious.

Major Kane felt his heart pumping, and the dark sensation returned, sweeping over him. _The bloodlust had returned with a vengeance. _He looked at his own sword, and then back at the fallen Moana. _No, no, resist it._ Kane clenched his teeth, trying to fight off the temptation. A sharp pain overwhelmed him as he tried to ignore the bloodlust, and he grimaced. _He had no choice but to give in to it._ He tightened his grip on his sword, and he instantly felt better. Major Kane lifted the sword, his eyes glowing red.

"No!" Melody cried, shooting an arrow towards Major Kane's sword, hoping that the arrow's force would knock the sword out of his hand.

With his free hand, Kane caught the arrow in mid air, and Melody watched in shock. _She had never seen anyone do that before._ Kane tossed the arrow to the ground and walked towards Melody with his Falchion still in his hand. She gripped her bow tighter, and dashed towards him with no trace of fear in her eyes.

As Melody closed the gap between them, Kane swung his sword at her, and she quickly dropped to her knees and used her built-up momentum to help her slide under the sword. She hit the Major's shins, and he staggered backwards a little. She stood up, bow in hand. To be honest, she wasn't surprised that she didn't manage to floor him, as he had such a huge frame. Major Kane clenched his left fist which was free, and his totem glowed red. He threw a jab in her direction, and she narrowly side stepped it, feeling the rush of wind against her face and seeing the streak of red inches away from her eyes.

Using her bow, Melody landed a blunt blow on the Major's abdomen, which was guarded with kevlar. _That was a dumb move. He wasn't going to feel much with all that protective gear._ Major Kane swung his right arm in an attempt to hit her, and she pivoted, bringing herself to the back of her opponent. She lashed out with her bow, hitting the back of his knee. _That was definitely a weak spot._

Major Kane dropped his sword and staggered again, dropping to a knee. She spun to the front swiftly, and attempted to land a right cross on Kane's jaw, knowing that it was a finisher that would surely floor him. However, he was too quick. He caught her wrist before it could meet his face and sent her flying towards the tables.

Melody crashed against the tables, and the merchants' goods spilled all over the floor. She grabbed her left arm. _That hurt. A lot._ Major Kane walked towards her, his snake totem glowing red. He looked incensed and unhinged. _That wasn't good._ She looked around to see if she could use her surroundings to her advantage, and spotted some orange powder that had spilled on the ground. She slowly reached out and grabbed a fistful of it.

As Kane approached her, Melody threw the powder into his face. He yelled as the orange substance got into his eyes and he was overwhelmed by the spicy sensation, temporarily blinded and vulnerable. Melody quickly got up and tried to land another blow on Kane's face. With his heightened senses, he instinctively knew that she was trying to attack him, and Kane swiped her wrist away. Bellowing, he swung at her, and this time, he was so quick that she didn't have time to react. Taking the full force of his blow, she was thrown back against the collapsed tables. She stayed down, utterly exhausted.

Major Kane rubbed his eyes and his sight slowly returned to him. He looked around to see Maui still fighting off his numerous mercenaries, and Moana and Melody collapsed in a heap, drained from the fight against him. He felt his anger and bloodlust burning within him. _This new girl, the Princess, was a formidable fighter. She had actually hurt him. _He was going to make sure that it wouldn't happen again. Major Kane walked towards Melody, with his Falchion in hand and with every intention to slay her. A fruit bounced off Kane's back and he spun around to see Tracy standing behind him confidently, with another fruit in hand.

"Back off, man. No one hurts my friends."

"Friends?" Kane turned around to face her. "You call them your friends, but you don't really believe it yourself. There's something dark within you, isn't there? This isn't who you are." He closed his eyes. "You're a witch."

"H-how?" Tracy was taken aback.

"I can feel your black magic," Kane smirked. "What are you doing fighting for these people? Being a hero isn't in your nature."

Tracy looked uneasy., staring at her enemy's snake totem.

"You wield black magic and call yourself a witch, but you haven't tasted true power. Let me show you." Kane clenched his fist and the totem glowed red. He aimed it at Tracy and a blast of black energy erupted, flying towards her.

The black magic hit Tracy, and she absorbed it into her body. For a moment, it seemed like she could handle it, but then she started to feel uneasy, her eyes shut tightly, perspiration forming on her brow. Tracy began to glow a horrendous mix of red and purple, still trying to control the two sources of black magic within her.

"Wait!" Maui dropped the last standing mercenary and ran towards Tracy.

_She couldn't keep it in any longer._ A huge explosion of red and purple erupted from her being, and Maui was thrown backwards by the black magic. The shock wave from the explosion swept across the marketplace, causing the remaining upright tents to collapse. It travelled upwards as well, knocking both Elsa and Santos from the edge of the rooftop. They were blown back by the black magic and fell onto the rooftop. Tracy stood limply in the middle of the marketplace, reeling from the black magic that she had ingested and could not contain. Her legs were wobbly and perspiration dripped from her chin. She had never tasted such power before in her life, and after that blast from the enemy, she was completely dazed and defenceless.

Major Kane walked up to her and gently rested his hand against her cheek. _His bloodlust was now quelled temporarily, thanks to that eruption of black magic that he had sent her way. _"Now that you've tasted true power, tell me, why are you still wasting your time pretending to be a hero?"

Tracy looked at Kane, unable to respond, still in a daze.

Major Kane retracted his hand and walked away with his mercenaries, who had already recovered. "Let's go. Atlantica is waiting for us."

Writer's Commentary:

Hah. This was probably one of my greatest challenges as a writer. Writing an action scene requires such vivid imagination and choreography which was certainly fun to explore for me. Including some comic relief from Maui was also essential, what with him easing the tension by delivering his favourite line "You're Welcome" to Moana. Those of you who've watched Moana from 2016 would get the reference. And also, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to throw in an easter egg of sorts. The line where Maui cuts in with "It doesn't matter who she is." is a homage to the Rock, who voiced Maui in 2016. That line is a catchphrase unique to the Rock when he was a wrestler back in the WWE. That was a fun little bit to write.

I did a little research on sword fighting in order to make the fight between Melody and Kane more realistic. It was a joy to choreograph their fight, as well as the others. And there's more to Tracy than meets the eye. Her arc will definitely be explored in greater detail as the story continues to progress.

Kane reminded me a little bit of Thanos in Infinity War when I was writing this chapter, and I guarantee you, it'll get better in the coming fight scenes.


	12. Chapter 12: Aftermath

Chapter Twelve

Aftermath

Above the marketplace where the warriors lay defeated, Santos stirred on the rooftop and got up, looking at Elsa. She was still flat on her back. He picked up his knife and slung his musket across his back.

"Wait."

Santos turned around to see Elsa slowly getting up.

"Don't go." Elsa said, standing to her feet.

"I have to."

"No, you don't," she walked towards Santos. "You said you're not like the rest, and I don't know why, but I find myself believing you."

"I don't have a choice. He'll kill me otherwise."

"We'll fight him together." Elsa promised.

"We can't. I'm sorry." Santos turned to go. He stopped, and fished an odd looking stone out of his military vest and passed it to Elsa.

"I don't understand." She took the stone in her hands, confused. _Why was this man giving her a stone? _

"I don't have time to explain how, but I'll contact you when I get the chance." Santos explained as he walked away. "I have to go."

"Wait!" Elsa called out, as Santos opened the door handle of the building. "You never told me your name."

"Santos."

"Santos." Elsa echoed, and Santos closed the door, leaving Elsa alone on the rooftop. She placed the stone into her pocket and looked over the rooftop, which had parts of it chipped off due to the explosion of black magic. Her team was down, and the mercenaries were getting away!

Elsa aimed at the edge of the rooftop and created a slide of ice that winded down to the marketplace, testing it to make sure that it was wide and strong enough to carry her weight safely. She climbed up to the roof's edge, and got onto the slide.

Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself off the roof, and slid down the ice quickly. Reaching the ground and getting up swiftly, she looked at the Major and the mercenaries that were boarding their ship that was docked at the harbour. There was no way she could face them by herself and emerge victorious. It was more likely that Kane would either kill her or take her hostage to bait the rest of the warriors. _She wasn't going to take that unnecessary risk._

Elsa looked over at her teammates who had begun to stir. She ran over to Melody who was slumped against the collapsed tables, looking the most worn out from battle.

"Melody," Elsa crouched down in front of her friend, pulling a couple of pieces of wood off from her. "Are you alright? Can you stand?"

"Yeah." Melody winced.

Elsa extended her hand towards Melody who grabbed on, and Elsa pulled her to her feet.

"Ugh…" Melody clutched her left arm. There was a dark bruise on her ivory skin, from where the Major had hit her. She quickly checked to make sure that her precious locket wasn't broken, and to her relief, it was still intact, hanging from her neck.

"I'm sorry I couldn't help." Elsa apologized.

"Where were you?" Moana demanded, weakly pushing herself up from the ground. "I thought you were supposed to level the playing field for us."

"I was," Elsa began, trying to explain. "But-"

"But you didn't. You let Kane get away!" Moana cut her off.

"Would you please let me explain?" Elsa raised her voice in frustration. Ice formed on the ground beneath her feet, spreading a few metres across the marketplace in all directions. "I was going to help out like we planned, but one of the Major's mercenaries spotted me and chased me across the rooftops!" She explained indignantly.

"Why was there a mercenary on the exact same rooftop as you?"

"How should I know?"

"And what happened to him?"

"He…got away."

"Should have seen that coming. And you!" Moana turned to Tracy, who had recovered from her daze.

She looked at Moana. "What did I do?"

"Whose side are you on?" Moana shouted at her, incensed. "You exploded with black magic and we lost the fight! This is the second time you let your powers get out of control!"

Tracy walked up to Moana and got up in her face. "So you're saying it's my fault we lost? The guy blasted me with black magic! What was I supposed to do?"

Moana pushed her away. "Get out of my face, witch. I should never have let you join us."

"You're not the leader of this little team. Stop acting like you're better than us." Tracy snorted.

"Guys!" The girls turned to Melody. "There's no point arguing now. What's done is done. The Major has escaped."

"What are we going to do now?" Elsa asked, trying to suppress her frustration to prevent her powers from getting out of control.

"Well, first," the girls turned to Maui, who was pointing at a group of royal guards approaching them quickly. "We have to deal with them."

Twelve guards armed with spears and body armour surrounded the warriors in the marketplace. They formed a circle and pointed their spears inward at the warriors, trapping Melody and the rest in the middle.

"Halt!" a strong voice boomed loudly, and the warriors turned to see the King riding on his white horse towards them. The King wore regal white robes, and had a thick grey beard and kindly eyes, which reminded Melody a little of her own grandfather, Triton.

"That's him, isn't it?" Melody whispered to Elsa. "The legendary King Aladdin?"

Elsa nodded, looking nervously at the guards pointing their spears at her. She was still trying to keep her emotions in check. If she suddenly lost control of her powers in front of Agrabah's King, things would get incredibly messy.

King Aladdin pulled back on the reins, bringing his horse to a stop. "Who are you? What are your intentions in Agrabah?"

Maui cleared his throat. "My name is Maui, the sha-"

"Queen Elsa of Arendelle," Elsa cut Maui off. It certainly wouldn't be in their favour for them to reveal that they had a demigod in their midst. That would make things so much harder to explain.

"The fabled Snow Queen?" Aladdin asked, surprised. "Your reputation precedes you."

"As does yours, King Aladdin," Elsa replied politely.

Melody smiled. She knew that she could count on Elsa to diffuse a diplomatic situation, as she probably had experience dealing with other kingdoms, more than the rest of them had anyway.

"What are you doing so far away from home? Shouldn't you be present to govern your people?" Aladdin asked.

"Long story. In short, there is a kingdom wide referendum and I've been temporarily removed from power. I needed a sabbatical, and here I am." Elsa replied quietly, her cheeks turning red from embarrassment, having to recount her predicament in front of so many people.

"I see… So tell me, Queen Elsa," Aladdin dismounted from his white horse, signalling for his royal guards to stand down, and they lowered their spears. "What are you and your friends doing here in Agrabah? And what's with all this mess?" Aladdin gestured at his marketplace which was in ruins.

"We're…sorry about that," Elsa began sheepishly. "We came here to stop a warlord called Major Kane from getting away with something he stole from the Cave of Wonders." She looked at Aladdin whose face had turned pale. "We're not sure what he took though."

"I know what the warlord took," Aladdin said grimly.

"What did he take?" Melody asked.

Aladdin looked at her with dread on his face. "The most powerful and dangerous item in the Cave of Wonders. The Lamp of Jafar."

"How can you be sure?"

"Trust me, I'm sure."

The warriors glanced around at each other, and even the royal guards looked uncomfortable.

"That Lamp, it houses Jafar the Genie, doesn't it?" Maui inquired. He had known of the genie's existence, as it was the stuff of modern legend. What he had not known up till now was that the Major now possessed the Lamp of Jafar.

Aladdin nodded gravely, and stroked his beard. "Many years ago, when I was a young man, Jafar had overthrown the then king, and I tricked him into using his final wish to become a genie, and when his wish was fulfilled I trapped him in his own Lamp. I then cast it into the Cave of Wonders, and hoped that it would never surface again." He paused, and exhaled sharply before he continued. "That's why I passed a law forbidding anyone from entering the Cave of Wonders. Everyone who had entered the Cave perished, being deemed unworthy by the Cave's guardian. All except me."

"And now the Major too." Melody added.

Aladdin nodded. "I also passed the law in the hopes that it would increase the chances that we would never have to worry about the Lamp of Jafar any longer, but look where we are now."

"Wait, so what can the Major do with the Lamp of Jafar?" Moana asked.

"When Jafar became a genie, he had to abide by the rules," Aladdin began, walking over to the fallen tables in the marketplace, and the warriors followed him. "Whoever found his Lamp and freed him from his prison would become his master," He continued, picking up some of the tables that hadn't been destroyed, and set them upright. "And Jafar would have to grant his new master three wishes."

"And these three wishes can be anything he wants?" Melody asked.

Aladdin nodded gravely, turning around to face them. "With the Lamp of Jafar, this Major you spoke of is unstoppable."

Melody turned to look at her team. They all looked equally disturbed. "Things just got a whole lot worse." Melody sighed. She looked over at Tracy, who had remained mostly silent since her encounter with Major Kane. Tracy seemed as if her mind was a million miles away.

Moana turned to Aladdin. "Is there anything we can do to negate the powers of Jafar?"

Aladdin shook his head. "Now that this Major Kane has the Lamp, the world could be in grave danger, and there's no stopping it."

"We'll do everything in our power to stop them," Elsa assured him confidently. "I promise we'll bring the Lamp back."

Aladdin looked at her with gratitude. "Thank you. I appreciate that." He looked around at the warriors that stood before him. "Save us all."

Melody nodded and ushered Tracy away. Elsa, Moana and Maui also turned to walk back to the harbour, leaving King Aladdin and his royal guards alone in the ruins of the marketplace.

"How do you know we can really bring the Lamp back in one piece?" Melody asked Elsa quietly as they walked back towards their ship.

"I don't," Elsa replied sheepishly. "But we had to give the King some assurance. He looked really stressed out. And besides, we had to get going. The Major has a big head start on us."

Melody nodded and climbed to the deck of the ship, followed by Elsa.

"Wait, I don't get it." Moana frowned as they boarded the ship. "If Kane already stole the Lamp of Jafar by the time we confronted him, why didn't he use it?"

"He must have bigger plans for it," Maui undocked the ship from the harbour and pulled the anchor up from the water. "He probably has every detail of his entire quest planned out."

"And we have no idea what he's going to use the Lamp for." Moana finished.

"But we do know where he's headed," Melody said, and everyone turned to her. "After he wiped the floor with us, Kane told his mercenaries that they were heading to Atlantica. He mentioned getting the trident from Atlantica, remember? He's got to be headed there now."

"How do we even where this Atlantica is?" Moana asked skeptically.

"Half mermaid, remember? Atlantica is sort of like my home away from home." Melody reminded her.

"Okay, but Kane also mentioned the heart of Te Fiti." Moana continued. "We had an encounter with that two years ago. " She looked at Maui, who nodded, remembering the adventure they had shared together. "How's he going to get that? It's impossible."

"And why is he going through all this trouble just to 'save humanity'?" Maui asked. "He seemed pretty okay with telling us his plan, in fact I think he wanted to, but he was rather tight lipped about his reasons."

"If I know these villains, they always have a reason, no matter how twisted." Melody replied grimly. "He said it was personal, I'm guessing it has something to do with his family."

"Maybe they're gone, and this is his way of coping with grief." Moana added. "In his twisted mind, that's probably logical to him."

"Someone hurts his family, he retaliates on a much larger scale. If that's true, then this quest is about honouring his family's memory, which means he'll do anything to make sure he succeeds," Melody folded her arms. "Our job just got a whole lot tougher."

"We'll worry about that later," Maui replied, climbing aboard the ship and untying the rope from the deck. "Right now, we gotta get to Atlantica before the Major does."

Moana walked to the edge of the deck, and raised her arms. She narrowed her eyes, staring at the water with every ounce of her concentration. The water behind the ship rose into a mini tidal wave, and moved towards the ship. The tidal wave pushed against the ship, pushing it away from the pier. Moana tensed up and the wave grew bigger, pushing the ship with greater force, causing it to be propelled faster through the water.

###

"We're nearing Atlantica. The Major and his mercenaries aren't that far ahead," Melody said, looking over the deck, before turning around to face the team. "Elsa, use your powers to create a cold mist that would hide our ship from being spotted by the Major."

Elsa nodded and stretched out her hands. Cold engulfed the atmosphere, turning the air misty and hiding their ship from sight.

"Tracy, you're up."

Tracy sat on the edge of the deck, looking as if she was lost in her thoughts, before realizing that Melody had called her. "Me?" Tracy asked.

"You're going to swim with me to Atlantica. We'll reach faster than Kane and warn the kingdom of the impending war."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Moana asked with uncertainty. "You know," she gestured at the sea witch.

"I'm standing right here, y'know." Tracy folded her arms in annoyance.

"Yeah. I know." Moana turned and looked her in the eye spitefully.

Elsa, Melody and Maui looked incredibly uncomfortable.

"If you got something to say to me, spit it out," Tracy said boldly.

"Frankly speaking, I don't trust you," Moana bluntly told her, and Tracy narrowed her eyes. "I saw you back in the marketplace. You enjoyed all that black magic, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" Tracy spat back. "Like you said, I'm a sea witch, aren't I?"

"You see?" Moana turned to the rest, pointing at Tracy. "She admitted it! We can't trust her. Don't forget, she's the one who made us lose the fight against the Major!"

Melody sighed in frustration and placed her palm on her forehead.

Tracy stared at Moana intensely, and after a long silence, a subtle wicked smile began to form on her face. "At least I wasn't the one who let the Major destroy my entire village."

Moana was taken aback, and Tracy sensed that she had the upper hand in the argument, seizing the opportunity to continue. "And I wasn't beaten by the Major twice."

Melody shook her head, knowing that Tracy had purposely hit a nerve and Elsa hid her head in her hands, knowing fully what was coming next.

A tear welled up in Moana's eye, and she blinked it back in anger. She clenched her fist, and drew her tribal spear.

"Stop it, both of you!" Melody slapped the spear out of Moana's hand, and placed her other hand on Tracy's shoulder, holding them apart. "Look, we're not getting anywhere like this. We keep arguing amongst ourselves and we're so dysfunctional and uncoordinated." She glared at both girls. "It's no surprise that we couldn't even stand together against the Major back in the marketplace."

"Whatever," Tracy shrugged and walked to the other side of the deck to eat some of the fruit that she had stolen from the marketplace.

"She's not just a sea witch, she's also a thief," Moana hissed, glaring in her direction.

"I know that she's a little rough round the edges, but why do you keep trying to pick a fight? What are you trying to prove?"

"Exactly what I've been trying to prove to you since the beginning. We can't trust her!" Moana protested.

"Look, I'll keep an eye on her, alright? But she's coming with me to Atlantica. I need her." Melody reassured her.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Moana picked up her spear.

Melody sighed, and beckoned for Tracy to get ready. "We're going to Atlantica now. I have no idea how this is all going to pan out, so just stay alert, alright? Keep a safe distance from the Major's ship, and get ready to ambush him if we fail to stop him and he returns from Atlantica."

Elsa and Maui nodded in acknowledgement, while Moana folded her arms.

Tracy gave Moana one last icy stare, before morphing back into her natural octopid form and climbed down into the water below.

Standing on the beam of the deck, Melody looked down. She grasped the locket that hung around her neck, and it glowed golden.

Although she was incensed over the spat with Tracy, Moana looked on with intrigue, as this was the first time she was seeing Melody transform into a mermaid with her own eyes.

The golden rays engulfed Melody, and she levitated a few feet above the deck. Slowly, the light faded, and Melody once again had her human legs replaced with her salmon pink tail. She dived into the ocean, disappearing below the waters.


	13. Chapter 13: The Return to Atlantica

Chapter Thirteen

The Return to Atlantica

Melody plunged below the surface and found Tracy waiting for her. "Let's go."

They swam away from their ship towards Atlantica. "If we swim fast, we could probably reach in about an hour," Melody said, thinking about the fastest route they could take to the kingdom. "Hopefully that would give us enough time to prepare for the invasion."

Tracy remained silent, deep in thought.

"Hey, you alright?" Melody asked, concerned for her friend.

"Peachy." Tracy replied, avoiding eye contact with her. Silence reigned for a couple of minutes.

"Tracy," Melody began again cautiously, as the duo swam past the Major's vessel. "Can I ask you something?"

Tracy tore herself away from her thoughts, and looked over at Melody. "Yeah?"

"Moana said that when the Major hit you with black magic, you actually enjoyed it," Melody continued, afraid of where the conversation was headed. "Was she telling the truth?"

"Maybe," Tracy replied elusively. "Why d'you wanna know?"

"Because I'm worried about you. You haven't exactly been the same since your encounter with Kane."

"Okay, so maybe I basked in its power," Tracy admitted. "But I can control it, alright?"

"Well…" Melody paused, knowing that she was treading on thin ice. "It didn't really seem that way when you exploded with black magic."

"What are you saying?"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is," Melody continued, before pausing again._ Maybe she should have approached this a different way, but it was too late to turn back now. _"I need to know that I can count on you when we face the Major again."

"No, what you're saying is," Tracy stopped swimming. "You don't trust me either,"

"Now wait a minute," Melody halted and swam back to where Tracy had stopped. "I didn't say that at all."

"Aww come on, Princess." Tracy retorted sardonically, her tentacles tensed. "I have black magic too, remember? Not as powerful as the Major's, but I can still sense things," she narrowed her eyes. "Things like mistrust."

Melody sighed. This wasn't going to end well for either of them. "Look, if I didn't trust you, I wouldn't have pulled you out of the Dark Zone and offered you a chance to break free from your family's cycle of violence."

"Oh, so now I'm the victim?" Tracy folded her arms. "I thought I was the villain here."

"Stop putting words in my mouth," Melody was getting exasperated. "All I'm saying is, I know you're better than this. I wouldn't have brought you on our quest otherwise."

"No," Tracy replied sharply. "You brought me out of the Dark Zone because you thought you could redeem yourself if you helped a poor unfortunate soul like me,"

Melody paused, taken aback by the octopid's perceptiveness. _Tracy wasn't wrong. _

"I know, coz you did the same thing with Elsa," Tracy continued. "We're both just sob stories to you, aren't we? Your very own stepping stones to redemption?"

"Okay I admit, I was doing it partially for myself," Melody admitted. "But I really did see something in you, and I wanted to help you get away from all the violence in the Dark Zone!"

Tracy scoffed. "And look where we ended up."

Melody exhaled sharply, and put her hands on her hips. There was an awkward silence between the two girls that spanned a minute or so. "Look, I promise we'll sort this out later. But right now, we have to go. We're running out of time."

Tracy nodded reluctantly. Melody swam forward quickly and Tracy followed behind at a distance. They had quite a distance to go before they were going to reach Atlantica, and they were in a race against time.

###

Up on the surface of the waters, Moana was carving up the fruit that Tracy had left behind with her tribal knife, still boiling over her argument with the antagonistic sea witch.

"Moana," Maui walked towards her.

"Not now, Maui," She got up and tossed the fruit overboard. "I need some space." Moana kept her knife in the pocket of her shorts and walked down to the quarters.

"Right." Maui sighed, and turned his attention to Elsa, who was gazing out into the cold mist, deep in thought as usual. "You know, she wasn't always like this." he said, trying to defend the girl whom he had known for years. Moana was kind, brave and optimistic, but then he had no way of proving that to anyone. "It's only recently that she's changed so drastically."

"I guess we all have our origin stories." Elsa replied absentmindedly, still gazing out into the cold mist.

"Yeah…I know you hate talking about yours," Maui leaned on the beam, facing her. "But I think you deserve to know the truth."

Elsa looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean? What truth?"

"The truth about _my_ origin," Maui continued, sitting down on the deck beside Elsa.

"Why are you telling me this? Why now?" She was perplexed as to why Maui was suddenly telling her the truth about himself.

"Because I might not have another chance later," Maui explained. "I get it. Believe me, I know what you meant when you said you felt like a monster. An outcast."

Elsa looked uncomfortable.

"I told you I was born a human and was taken by the gods as a child, to be brought up as a demigod." Maui began. "But that's not entirely true. I was… abandoned by my parents, and left to starve and die. The gods took pity on me and raised me as their own, granting me special abilities as a demigod."

For the first time, Elsa looked at Maui with sympathy. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know." She whispered softly, placing her hand gently on Maui's. As she was feeling sympathetic towards Maui, her emotions were stirred within her, and she didn't notice ice forming on her hands. Maui's hand began to freeze but he didn't flinch. Elsa suddenly noticed, and she pulled back quickly. "I didn't mean to-"

"That's okay. I'm a demigod remember?" Maui smiled. "Look, I never told this to anyone other than Moana, because this is actually a rather touchy subject for me too," He continued. "But I chose to tell you because you deserve to know that you're not the only one out there who's an outcast."

Elsa looked at him and for the first time, she felt something other than annoyance at Maui. She felt empathetic towards him.

"You shouldn't be ashamed of being different. Embrace who you are, Elsa," Maui got up from the beam. "Melody and I sought you out because you were different, so be proud of that." He smiled comfortingly at her, and walked away to give her some space.

"Wait!" Elsa called out, and Maui turned around. "Thank you for telling me. I feel like we've a lot more in common now, you know," she said shyly. "I'm sorry if I kept pushing you away, I swear it wasn't personal. It's just that… I'm afraid of hurting people with my powers when I get emotional." Elsa explained.

"Don't worry, I don't get hurt easily." He winked, and walked down the stairs leading down to the lower decks. "Oh, and you're not a monster to me," his voice rung out from the stairwell. "You're a queen."

Elsa laughed at Maui's playful comment. She was beginning to understand who Maui really was underneath that loud and boisterous exterior. _Sure, he was noisy, bouncy and annoying on the outside, but deep down on the inside, he was sweet and gentle, and surprisingly had a lot in common with her. He wasn't so bad after all. _

###

After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence while swimming across the ocean, Melody and Tracy swam past the reef that marked the beginning of Atlantica's territory. Tracy looked around, taking in the sights of Atlantica for the first time. There were plenty more fishes in Atlantica than the other territories that they had passed by on the way. It was hands down definitely more colourful and vibrant in Atlantica. The other places they had passed by were quiet and dull, somewhat like the Dark Zone where Tracy had lived all her life.

Atlantica was every bit the dream world that Tracy had fantasised about back when she was stuck in the Dark Zone, wishing for a way out. There was a huge variety of sea creatures that swam freely throughout the kingdom, and the plants were a vibrant shade of green and bountiful. Even the reefs and rocks in the kingdom were beautifully decorated, a welcome sign to all creatures in the ocean. It even seemed that Atlantica, though it was a mystical place of old, had technology far superior to that on land! The various infrastructures that had been built by the mer-people were beautifully constructed, laced with bright neon lights. Merfolk swam through the kingdom freely, some bargaining in the marketplace, while young children played on the seabed with the marine life.

Tracy looked up at the palace. It was made of solid gold, tall and magnificent, and was built against a large rocky wall that towered far above the kingdom. Atlantica was truly beautiful. As the duo swam through the kingdom towards the palace, Tracy had a chill down her spine. It felt as though people were watching her, and she looked around. True enough, merfolk were staring and whispering to one another, and some children pointed at her, tugging at their parents' tails. It was then that Tracy realized, to her horror, that there were no octopids in Atlantica at all other than herself. Suddenly, she remembered that her mother, Morgana, was a war criminal who had almost succeeded in overthrowing the king! Octopids must have been forbidden from entering Atlantica after that incident six years ago. It all made sense to her, and she felt extremely self-conscious and nervous. _What if someone discovered that she was the daughter of Morgana? She would be thrown into prison without a second thought! _Anxiety crept over Tracy, and she swam closer to Melody, not really caring that they weren't on the best terms. They arrived at the gates of the palace, where huge mermen decked out in armour stood guard.

The guards noticed the octopid swimming alongside the Princess, and immediately they sprung into action. "The Princess! Get her to safety!" Two guards hurriedly separated Melody from Tracy, and the rest aimed their spears at the forbidden creature. "Halt! How dare you enter the kingdom? Do you not know that this crime is punishable by lifetime imprisonment?" one of the guards bellowed.

"Guys! Lower your weapons!" Melody frantically swam over to one of the guards and pushed the spear away from Tracy. "Stand down, she's with me!" Melody exclaimed firmly.

"Apologies, your Highness!" the commander of the guards bowed, motioning to the rest to lower their weapons. "How may we be of service?"

"I have urgent matters that I need to take to my mother," Melody said. "Is she in?"

"Yes, Your Highness. May we escort you into the Royal Court?" the commander offered.

"That won't be necessary. Thanks!" Melody called out as she swam into the palace, with an awkward Tracy following behind closely.

The duo swam into the Royal Court, to find Ariel talking with some dignitaries. "Mom!" Melody shouted, swimming across the purple carpet towards her mother.

"Melody? What are you doing here?" Ariel asked, stunned to suddenly see her daughter hurtling towards her. "Can't this wait? I'm kind of in an important meeting right now."

"No Mom, this can't wait. Atlantica is in danger!" Melody pleaded, swimming to a stop in front of her mother.

"I'm sorry, we'll have to continue this another time. Please give us the room."

Melody was shocked to hear Sebastian the crab's voice, and looked to her right. There the crab was, ushering the muttering dignitaries out of the court. Sebastian must have returned not long after she had visited Atlantica. The doors of the court were shut tight, and Sebastian turned to Melody.

"Young lady, what's going on? And why did you bring an octopid here?" he demanded, looking at Tracy, who stood a distance away from Melody. "Have you forgotten what these _monsters_ are capable of?" he swam back towards Melody, wildly gesturing at the octopid. "Need I remind you of a certain sea witch?"

Tracy rolled her eyes and folded her arms. She was getting tired of being ostracized by everyone.

"Don't worry, she's not evil." Melody quickly reassured her former guardian and her mother. "This is Tracy. She's been helping me in…" Melody paused, not knowing how to break the news that she had embarked on a dangerous quest to save the world. "…uncovering an evil scheme." She finished. _That was the truth, after all. _She turned to Ariel, her face wrought with urgency. "A war is coming to Atlantica."

Ariel sighed. "Melody, I know."

"Wait, what?" Melody was confused. _How could her mother possibly know of the Major's quest?_

"Merfolk from Atlantica and other kingdoms throughout the ocean have been disappearing for months," Ariel began. "Your aunts confirmed that they have been having the same problem as us. We couldn't prove it at first, but then a few days ago, Sebastian came back to us with proof."

"I saw your grandfather being taken!" Sebastian added, his voice filled with anguish. "We were exploring one of the villages in Eidenburg, when suddenly a human vessel overshadowed us and nets descended from the surface! They caught many merfolk, including King Triton," Sebastian bowed his head. "I couldn't save him. His final words to me were 'Return to Atlantica and warn everyone'."

"The kingdom officials and I were discussing the disappearances when you first returned to Atlantica," Ariel continued, looking at Melody with a grave look on her face. "When Sebastian proved our suspicions to be true, there was only one logical explanation. Since most of the disappearances came from Atlantica, that meant that our enemies wanted to weaken our forces so that it would be easier to attack us."

Melody took a while to absorb all this new information. _Her grandfather captured? Merfolk disappearing across the ocean? This was sick._ "I know who's behind all this," Melody said boldly.

Ariel and Sebastian looked at her.

"The mercenaries call him Major Kane. We fought him in Agrabah, where he told us his entire plan," she looked back at Tracy, who nodded. "He's coming here for the trident." Melody finished, holding her breath in anticipation for a lecture on staying out of danger.

"Hold on, you went to Agrabah and faced this Major Kane?" Ariel couldn't believe what she had just heard. "And you managed to escape unharmed?"

"Yes, I-"

"Young lady, what were you thinking? You could have gotten seriously hurt!" Sebastian shouted in concern.

"I'm fine!" Melody insisted. "I wasn't alone. I was with a… team of warriors." She felt like she was exaggerating. They were more like a bunch of amateurs who couldn't get along with each other for three minutes without arguing, but her mother needn't know that. Not now at least. "I'm not twelve anymore, you know. I can take care of myself." She continued indignantly. "If I couldn't, I wouldn't have made it here, would I?"

"Even if you could hold your own against him, there's still one problem. We don't know when this Major Kane will strike," Sebastian reminded them.

"That's why I came back to Atlantica in a hurry," Melody looked at Sebastian and her mother. "He's on his way here now, and could be here at any moment!"

"Then it's time," Ariel looked at Sebastian. "Initiate the Invasion Protocol."

Sebastian nodded gravely and without another word, he swam swiftly out of the Royal Court.

"Invasion Protocol?" Melody asked in confusion.

"Your grandfather prepared for a time like this. If this Major is coming here for a war, we'll show him that Atlantica isn't a kingdom to be messed with," Ariel told the two girls with confidence.

"There's just one more problem," Melody said. "He's a wielder of black magic."

"Major Kane uses a snake totem to channel his black magic," Tracy explained. "So your little invasion protocol might not work too well against him."

Ariel put her hand to her forehead, and her eyebrows were knitted together in concentration. "Let's go." Ariel swam to the doors of the Royal Court and opened them.

"Where are we going?" Melody asked as she and Tracy followed Ariel out of the Royal Court.

"Your grandfather's library," Ariel replied as they swam through the corridors of the palace. "He made it his business to know about all magical and mystical items, both on the land and sea. He stored all sorts of books about them in his personal library, and never allowed any of us to enter the library."

Ariel, Melody and Tracy arrived outside a wooden door that looked like it had not been opened for years. "But now, with this war approaching and this snake totem involved, it's time to crack open my father's sea of knowledge." Ariel reached out to open the door, only to find it locked. "Of course!" Ariel exclaimed in exasperation. "Of course it would be locked. What was I thinking?"

"Here, let me try." Tracy stood in front of the door, and squinted. Muttering a spell under her breath, a cloud of purple ink emitted from her hands. She forcefully thrusted her hands towards the door, and the entire door came off its hinges.

"Thanks, but that was a little excessive," Ariel said, walking through the gap where the door used to stand.

"I was just trying to blow the knob off," Tracy shrugged, and Melody raised an eyebrow.

They followed Ariel into the library, and she swam up to pull back a flap covering a high ceiling. Sunlight flooded into the library lit up, revealing a cave with an extremely high ceiling, shelves of books surrounding the walls of the cave. "Snake totem, snake totem," Ariel swam up, glancing around at the shelves, hoping that her father had arranged the books in alphabetical order. She pulled out a book about totems, and swam back down to where Melody and Tracy were waiting for her. Ariel opened the book, and flipped through it page by page, with the two girls glancing over her shoulder.

"There," Melody stopped her mother, pointing to a page in the book. "That looks like the one he was wearing,"

Ariel placed the book down on a table made out of rock. "Let's see what we can find."

Writer's Commentary:

This was actually kind of hard to write, since it's technically filler between the fight scene in the marketplace, and the Major's war against Atlantica. I had a pretty hard time coming up with interesting content, and decided to use this time to further the characters' relationships with each other.

First between Tracy and Melody, I wanted to slowly disintegrate the bond that Tracy has with her. After all, Melody is the one who brought Tracy out of the black Zone, so it's only fitting that she starts to lose her only friend. That's the one thing that's going to send Tracy scurrying back to her old habits.

And there's Elsa and Maui. At some point in time, their relationship had to pick up. It was kinda hard to find a good place to pay off the animosity that Elsa harboured towards Maui, and I hoped that I eased their tension successfully. Maybe this will open more opportunities to write more chemistry scenes for these two characters.

Then there's the twist. Queen Ariel knew about the invasion that's impending. That was a fun bit to write. And the return of Sebastian! I'm glad I got to slip him in somewhere. And of course, things are going to get wild when the war picks up a while later.


	14. Chapter 14: Descent

Chapter Fourteen

Descent

Major Kane looked out over the deck of the Hanedale. He could see almost nothing in front of him, as a thick fog of cold mist covered the air. _He had a feeling that it wasn't natural. Nevertheless, he would soon reach Atlantica, and he would be one step closer to achieving his ultimate goal. _Kane stepped away from the edge of the deck, and walked down the rusty stairs leading to the bilge. As he reached the bottom of the stairs and stepped down into the puddles of water that sloshed about on the floor, he clenched his fist, and the snake totem glowed red, illuminating the room. Over the course of his quest, Major Kane had grown more and more adept at harnessing black magic through the snake totem. It had been a great help to him during his battle against the warriors back in the Agrabah marketplace. Wielding the snake totem like an oil lamp, Kane walked towards the cages where he had trapped the merpeople. "I wish to speak to the one called Triton," he called out as he reached the cages.

Triton emerged from the water and signalled for the rest to give them some time alone. The merpeople disappeared below into the submerged parts of their cages, and Triton came face to face with his captor. "How much longer do you intend on keeping us here?" Triton demanded.

"That's what I came to speak with you about," Kane replied calmly. "Tell your people, your time on this ship is coming to an end. Just a while longer till we reach our destination."

"What destination?" Triton probed further, exasperated at his eccentric captor.

"Your home, Atlantica."

Triton's eyes widened, and Kane began to walk away. "Why? Why Atlantica? And why are you doing this?!" Triton shouted, grabbing the rusty bars of his cage. "Kane! You've got nothing to lose by telling us what you intend to do with us!"

Kane stopped and turned around. "I guess you're right. You might as well know, since you have a huge part to play in the coming conflict."

"Conflict?" Triton was confused.

"That's right," Kane walked back towards Triton, and stopped a safe distance away from the merman. _It would not do to put himself at unnecessary risk. For all he knew, Triton might lash out and attack him suddenly._ "You know, I understand how you feel, being a prisoner," Kane looked at Triton with genuine sympathy. "I was once a prisoner too on board this very ship."

"What happened?" Triton asked, hoping to learn more about Kane and his intentions.

"I was once in the military," Kane began. "My government sent us out to sea, and I led my men into a trap. We were tortured for hours, days, and weeks. Slowly, my men started dying, one by one, before my very eyes. And one day, while I was left on the deck of the ship, beaten and broken, I overheard the guards talking." he paused and looked at Triton. "About you,"

"Me?"

"Yes," Kane continued. "One of them told an incredulous tale about a sea king who lived in a kingdom called Atlantica, and ruled the seven seas with a magical trident, more powerful than any other throughout the ocean." Major Kane paused again, and he could see that Triton knew where this was going. "Anyway, as the days went on and as I continued to be tortured, for some reason, that tale stuck with me. Something inside me told me that I would survive all the torture, and one day, I would live to see Atlantica for myself." Kane paced away from the cage. "Maybe it was survival instinct talking. Or maybe it was belief."

"How did you escape?"

"Eventually, they got sloppy. There were only two of us remaining. One of my corporals and myself. One day, when the guards assumed that we were unconscious, I escaped and killed the guards with their own weapons. I found the captain hiding in his quarters and killed him for what he did to my unit." Kane explained, his expression slightly haunted when he mentioned his dead men. "With their captain dead, my former tormentors were lacking in leadership. I commandeered this vessel, the Hanedale, and its crew."

"But why?" Triton asked. "Why all this? You've become just like the men who tormented you."

"Because I learnt a very simple truth," Kane replied. "Back when I was still a Major in the army, I could never understand it. But my enemy taught me something on this ship, something that stuck with me till this day," Kane leaned closer to the bars of the cage, looking Triton in the eyes. "There is no right side in war."

"I've been in many wars myself, and I know a madman when I see one."

"Both sides fight a losing battle against their own souls." Kane ignored Triton's insult. "Humanity has gone awry with war, corruption, terrorism and senseless murder. I'm sure you can agree, having lost your own wife to barbarians."

Triton narrowed his eyes, angered by the mention of his late wife.

"My eyes were opened on this very ship," Kane continued. "Humanity cannot be saved or salvaged at this point."

"You're wrong," Triton refuted his claim boldly. "My wife might have been killed by a human, but not all of them are evil. I've seen what humans can be. Many are still good."

"But for how long?" Major Kane asked rhetorically. "Sooner or later, even the good ones grow corrupt. They won't realise it, until it's too late. Only after the purge will the survivors be able to usher in a new era of peace."

Triton kept silent, realising that it was futile to make the Major see reason.

"I'm the only one willing to do whatever it takes to restore mankind to its former glory," He pointed at Triton. "And you are going to help me accomplish my goal." Kane finished, walking away from the cages.

"And why would I help you? You're obviously insane, every bit like the people you claim to hate!"

"It's not like you have a choice." Kane walked up the stairs, leaving a confused and angry merman behind in the cold, black bilge.

###

Up on the deck, Santos paced the floor anxiously. The rest of the mercenaries were down in the lower parts of the ship drinking, playing cards or sleeping, but not Santos. Ever since he had arrived in Agrabah, he had grown increasingly conflicted. He had always known that what he was doing was wrong, but he was always too afraid to oppose the Major or defy his orders, as Kane had appointed him as his right hand man. However, meeting that girl on the rooftop put things into perspective for him. On the outside, the girl he had encountered looked like a scared, petite young woman, but on the inside, she was a warrior queen who had left her kingdom to fight against everything the Major stood for, risking her life to stop him. On the flip side, he, a trained mercenary, was fearful of doing the right thing. _All that was going to change. _

Santos noticed the Major coming out to the deck, looking like he had a renewed passion for his quest, and inhaled deeply, walking towards his master. "Sir?" Major Kane heard him and turned around. _It was too late for him to turn back now._ "Sir. May I speak to you?"

"What do you want, Santos?"

"I never asked, but why?" Santos blurted out.

"Why what?"

"Why didn't you return to the village after everything that had happened?" Santos swallowed hard and held his breath. "Do you remember the promise?" Santos asked, growing slightly bolder. "The promise you made me three years ago?" He was either going to find out, or have his windpipe crushed.

Major Kane looked at Santos with conviction in his eyes. "I remember everything," he replied. "But things have changed." He looked down at the snake totem on his ring finger. "Priorities have changed. The village, my family, my former life, everything from my past was a distraction," Kane began. "All of it. I had to leave it all behind. The quest was far more important."

"Listen to yourself, you never gave yourself a chance to grief," Santos said, gaining confidence. "To mourn your family and the men who died on the Hanedale." Santos continued. "Instead, for five years you went on a rampage, attacking and invading pirate ships across the ocean, amassing enough men to make yourself an army, training them to become your elite mercenaries, spending your time dabbling in the dark arts, chasing after mystical totems and things under the sea. Tell me, was it really worth it?"

"Yes it was," Kane growled, clenching his fist and the totem glowed red.

Santos found himself levitated off the ground. He clawed at his neck, gasping for air as his windpipe started to close. "Don't you dare question my crusade," Kane narrowed his eyes at Santos, whose face had turned pale. "You're trying to soften me up with sentiment, but it won't work. I'm too close to the finish line to turn back now."

The Major felt the bloodlust coursing through his veins, and this time, he didn't try to stop it. He basked in it, allowing it to control him. Tightening his fist, the totem that was glowing red shined even brighter.

Santos could feel his life slipping away slowly. _This was it. At least he would die having stood up for what he believed was right and not have to die a coward's death. _

"Sir!"

Major Kane turned his head to where the distraction had come from.

"We have arrived."

Kane nodded. He released his grip, and Santos fell to the ground, violently choking and gasping for air. "Don't get soft on me now, Santos," Kane looked at his right hand man with disdain. "Or you'll die just like the Atlanticans are about to." He walked away from Santos, turning his attention to the other mercenary who had informed him of their arrival. "Gather the men."

As the mercenaries gathered up on the main deck, Santos' blood started to circulate normally again, and he slowly stood up, clutching the beam for support in case he fell. He walked to the side of the deck, not wanting to be squashed by the crowd of mercenaries forming up in front of the Major.

"Gentlemen, we have reached our destination," Kane began loudly, looking at the men before him. "Though not all of us will be going to Atlantica, may I remind you that you all have a part to play in the restoration of mankind."

As Kane droned on and on about the details of his plan for the mercenaries in the upcoming war, Santos snuck away from sight, to the lower deck where no one could see or hear him. Since the Major didn't kill him and he had a second chance to live, he knew what he had to do to set things right.

###

Elsa sat in the galley of the ship alone. No one had used the galley since they first boarded the ship in Arendelle. They technically didn't need to use the room as Melody had brought combat rations for everyone and no one brought any supplies to cook. Elsa had decided that she needed some time by herself. Everyone had agreed that they needed to prepare for the next battle against the Major and his forces. Since she was solely relying on her powers to keep her alive, Elsa didn't really have any equipment to prepare, so she had decided to spend the time in a place other than the deck or her quarters while waiting for their next "adventure".

_Come to think of it, she was actually quite tired from her time in the city of Agrabah. Jumping across the rooftops to get away from Santos had been rather draining. _Taking a packet of combat rations from the counter top, Elsa ripped open the packaging and pushed the slimy contents upwards. She looked at the rations in disgust, and gagged a little.

It smelled and tasted horrible, but she needed the energy if she was going to head into another battle. It certainly would not do if she fainted from exhaustion halfway through the fight!

Shutting her eyes, she used the packaging to push the sludge into her mouth. As she swallowed them as quickly as she could, she could feel the cold and slimy substance sliding down her throat. _Ugh, that was horrible. _

She wiped her mouth with a paper napkin, and scrunched it up. Tossing it into a bin, she slumped back into her chair. Something in her pocket pressed hard against her thigh, and she reached into her pocket and fished it out.

It was the stone that the mercenary had given her, and she had completely forgotten about it for a while_. _She held it in her hand and looked at it. _Why would he give it to her? _Could it be possible that he had given her some magical tracking device, so that he would know of their location? She shook her head. _The mercenary, what was his name? Santos._ He seemed sincere about being different from his comrades.

There was something about him that made her feel like she could trust him. But then again, what if he turned out to be just like Hans, who had deceived her sister Anna and almost succeeded in killing them? Elsa didn't know what to make of it all.

Suddenly, the stone in her hand began to heat up exponentially till it almost scalded the skin of her palm. Elsa, who was already on edge yelped in alarm and dropped it on the table. It was glowing in an array of different colours. So it really is magical. She approached it cautiously and looked at it curiously. _Was someone was trying to communicate with her through the stone? _She poked it with a cautious finger, afraid of getting burnt.

"Can you hear me?" A faint voice could be heard from coming from within the stone.

Elsa couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was almost as if the stone was a mobile communications device. "Santos?"

"Look, I don't have much time," Santos whispered urgently, his device pressed against his face. "The Major's ship has reached Atlantica."

"Don't worry, we're right behind you," Elsa replied.

"What?"

"I mean, more like a short distance away," Elsa corrected herself quickly. "The fog shields us from sight."

"Oh, so you're responsible for the fog. Right," Santos continued. "Look, the Major is going to mount an attack against Atlantica now. I have to go with him, I can't blow my cover. You can ambush the Hanedale while he is gone and set a trap for him."

"Hanedale?"

"Our ship. Most of the mercenaries will still be on the ship so be careful."

"Thanks," Elsa said. "But why are you helping us now?"

"Because I realized that I do have a choice," Santos answered. "You helped me realize that. I have to go now, I'm sorry." With that, the stone went silent and the colours faded, leaving it as any other ordinary pebble in a garden.

###

"Prepare your gear, ten minutes before we move out." Major Kane finished.

Santos quickly blended into the crowd and the mercenaries knelt with their right knee to the ground, their right arm crossing to the opposite shoulder with clenched fists and heads bowed.

Kane lifted his hand and they rose, dispersing quickly. The deck was clear and Major Kane was alone once more. He reached into his jacket and took out the Lamp of Jafar. He rubbed the Lamp, and a black mist escaped from the Lamp's spout, and formed the image of Jafar. "Jafar?"

"Yes, Master." Jafar replied. "What can I do for you?"

"It is time for my first wish. At my command, you will transform a few of my men and myself into mermen. I want the spell to only last for an hour, as that will be all the time I need to get the trident from the kingdom."

Jafar raised his eyebrow. "As you wish, master,"

"Good. Wait for my command." Kane finished, and rubbed the Lamp again, causing Jafar to be sucked back through the spout and into his prison. He walked down the steps to the bilge for the second time that day, lighting up his snake totem again. He walked through the puddles of water towards the cages.

The merpeople who had re-emerged from the water looked at him in fear. Triton made his way forward to the bars of the cage to face his captor. "Come back to tell us more about your grand plan?" he asked boldly.

"No," Kane replied. He pointed his snake totem at the merpeople. The totem's light grew blinding, and red auras of black magic swept towards the merpeople in waves. "It's time."


	15. Chapter 15: The Battle of Atlantica

Chapter Fifteen

The Battle of Atlantica

"Look," Melody pointed to a portion of text in the book. "Using the snake totem will gradually take a toll on the user's mental state over time. They'll develop a bloodlust."

"Meaning to say," Tracy began. "Major Kane wasn't always crazy?"

"Possibly," Melody replied.

"But the real question is: how do we stop him?" Ariel asked impatiently. "That's the important part."

"Alright, let's see." Melody flipped the pages, quickly scanning the contents of the book to see if there was more information about the snake totem. "Here," she stopped at a new page. "There's only one way to counter the effects of the snake totem. White magic." Melody furrowed her thick eyebrows, engrossed in the text. "If Kane wields the snake totem and uses it, only a wielder of white magic can effectively cancel out Kane's spells."

"Don't look at me," Tracy shrugged. "I'm a sea witch, remember?"

Ariel immediately whipped her head over at Tracy with a suspicious look written across her face.

"No mom, she doesn't mean that," Melody quickly reacted to Tracy's remark, glaring at the octopid. "I know who can stop the Major." She closed the book confidently, hoping to divert her mother's attention from Tracy.

"Who?"

"Moana," she looked at Tracy, who nodded. "She fought alongside us against the Major in Agrabah." Melody explained. "But she's a human, waiting up in the waters above us."

"Which means we're on our own down here," Ariel pursed her lips grimly.

At that moment, Sebastian appeared at the entrance where the door of the library used to stand. "Wha-" he started, realising that the door was gone. "Never mind. Your Majesty, you need to get out there. The warlord has arrived at the borders of the kingdom." Sebastian informed Ariel in a hurry.

"Right," Ariel responded, and she swam out of the library, followed by Melody.

"I'm coming with you." Melody stated firmly.

"Absolutely not!" Ariel exclaimed. "It's dangerous out there! This isn't just Morgana like last time!"

Tracy flinched a little upon hearing her mother's name.

"I fought him before, remember? You need me out there with you. I know what to expect this time." Melody insisted indignantly. "You're not stopping me, Mom. I'm coming with you whether you like it or not."

"I've got to be the worst mother in all of history," Ariel muttered under her breath. "Come on, we're wasting time."

"Right." Melody looked back at Tracy, who was starting to follow them. "Tracy, I need you to stay here in the palace and guard the trident for us."

"What?" Tracy couldn't believe her ears.

Melody glanced at her mother, who nodded. "I'll wait out front," Ariel swam away quickly out of earshot, leaving her daughter alone with Tracy amid a tense atmosphere.

Melody took a deep breath, knowing where this conversation was headed again. _There was no avoiding the inevitable this time._ "You heard me," Melody said firmly.

"You gotta be kidding me!" Tracy scoffed. "You're sidelining me? After everything we've been through so far?"

Melody kept silent.

"You would be lying dead in Agrabah right now if it wasn't for me!" Tracy pointed a finger at her angrily, raising her voice as she swam out of the library to confront Melody. "Kane was going to kill you, but I saved your life!"

"Tracy…" Melody raised her hand to her forehead. "After everything we've been through so far, I'm not sure you being out on the battlefield is the best option right now," Melody replied apologetically. "I'm sorry Tracy, but you know I'm right."

"No," Tracy shook her head slyly, getting up in Melody's face. "You're lying. I know why you don't want me out there fighting against Kane. Say it, Princess."

Melody looked uncomfortable.

"Say it!" Tracy hissed.

"I'm sorry, Tracy. I can't trust you out there on the warfront," Melody relented, spilling the truth that she herself did not want to admit.

"And why not?"

"Because…" Melody knew she couldn't escape the truth.

"Because I'm a sea witch," Tracy said quietly, finishing Melody's sentence for her. "Right?"

"Tracy, it's not like that!" Melody knew she was fighting a losing battle.

"Oh wait, no no no, don't tell me! Let me guess," Tracy continued sarcastically. "Let's see…it's because…wait I got it! Because I wield black magic too. Right?"

Melody remained silent, not knowing how to salvage what was left of their friendship.

"You, Moana, everyone in this wretched kingdom, you're all the same," Tracy finished quietly, her voice filled with hurt. "Just go," She shook her head, looking absolutely crushed.

Melody opened her mouth to say something, but decided that she had done enough damage. Swimming away, she turned her head and looked back at Tracy who had slumped against a pillar. _She was going to have to deal with this later, just not right now._ Melody sighed, and swam away rapidly, leaving Tracy alone in the corridors of the palace. She swam to the hallway leading to the entrance of the palace where Ariel was waiting for her.

"Maybe you should wait in the palace with your friend." Ariel made one final attempt to dissuade her daughter from joining the dangerous battle.

"No Mom, you're not talking me out of this one," Melody insisted firmly. "Atlantica is my home too."

Ariel sighed, knowing that she could do nothing to change her daughter's mind. _After all, Melody was already eighteen, and more than capable of taking care of herself. _She knew that she had to let Melody go at some point and trust her to keep herself safe. Both mother and daughter swam towards the palace's doors, where two guards were stationed.

"Your Highness," one of the guards bowed. "Please take my weapon. You will need it on the battlefield." He handed his spear to Ariel, who accepted it gratefully. "And mine." The other guard offered Melody his spear.

Melody glanced at a recurve crossbow hanging from the guard's belt. "May I?" she asked, pointing at the guard's belt.

"Of course, Your Highness." the guard hurriedly removed the crossbow from his belt and handed it to the princess. She held it in her hand, admiring its sturdy build and small size. _It was so much smaller than her own bow, but it was going to be a steep learning curve as this was her first time using a crossbow. Nevertheless, she was a quick learner. _

"One last thing," the guards handed mother and daughter the standard issue armour that all the soldiers wore. Shoulder plates, solid chest pieces that extended down to the waist, elbow guards, shin and knee guards, and head gear.

They put the armour on, which were two sizes too big for them, but they thanked the guards anyway. Ready for the battle, they swam out of the palace doors and were greeted by the sight of a company of Atlantican soldiers formed up at the edge of the kingdom. They were facing out into the multitude of enemies that waited a distance away, all primed for the war that was about to commence.

The Atlantican soldiers were split into five platoons on the frontlines, deployed around the kingdom's open waters as perimeter defence as commanded by Sebastian. There were also a few squads of soldiers hiding behind the reefs and rocks, armed with crossbows to engage the invaders at mid range.

Ariel and Melody swam to the frontline where Sebastian was waiting for them. "Your Highness, the invaders appear to be unresponsive to anything apart from their leader's commands." Sebastian informed Ariel.

"Hypnotized," Melody said. "Major Kane must have used his black magic to put them all under his control."

"Some of the invaders appear to be our own people," Sebastian continued. "From a tactical standpoint, we have the environmental advantage, but the invaders' numbers rival our own and we also can't afford to hurt our own people," he finished. "The leader among them." he pointed at a merman that stood in front of the rest of the invaders.

Melody looked at who Sebastian was pointing at, and immediately recognised the leader he spoke of. "Major Kane," she said grimly. _So that was what the Major had used the Lamp of Jafar for: to get Jafar the Genie to transform him into a merman!_

"He's requested to parley with the kingdom's next in command at the reef in between the two armies," Sebastian continued anxiously. "Though I would strongly advise against it."

"It'll be fine, Sebastian." Ariel reassured him. Both mother and daughter swam towards the reef.

Major Kane, also decked out in armour, saw them swimming towards him, and moved to meet them at the reef. Both sides stopped in front of the reef, separated by the rocks in between them. "Ah, the daughter of Triton," he began calmly. "Princess," he looked over at Melody, seeing her in her mermaid form for the first time. "To think you were just an ordinary human. I've underestimated you."

Melody stared back at the Major with unflinching eyes. "So this is why you needed the Lamp of Jafar."

"Yes," Kane replied. "Among other reasons."

"We've come to parley, just as you requested," Ariel cut straight to the point. "What are you doing here in our waters?"

"No small talk then. Very well," Kane began. "I've travelled across the world to find Atlantica. I used to think this place was just a myth, a legend. But apparently, it's very real." He gazed at the kingdom, impressed by its beauty, having seen it for the very first time.

"Why have you come here? What do you want?" Ariel asked, knowing full well that he wanted the trident that was safely hidden in the palace.

"I've come for the fabled trident that Poseidon used to wield," Kane continued. "So here's what I propose. We can avoid any bloodshed if you just hand it to me. Otherwise," he glanced back at his troops of mermen. "We are very prepared to take the trident by force."

"You know very well that I can't allow that."

"Then you're forcing my hand," Kane looked at Ariel with sincerity. "I don't want to have to do this."

"Then don't," Melody cut in. "You can turn back now before it's too late."

"Oh, Princess," Kane smirked. "You've already faced me once back in Agrabah. Do you really think I would back down now after going through all this trouble to get here?"

Melody stayed silent, knowing that there was no stopping the Major, and that the war was inevitable.

"Last chance, Your Highness," Kane turned back to Ariel. "These mermen aren't exactly your enemies. You may recognise some of them as your own citizens. You'll regret not taking me up on my offer."

"Either way, you're not getting the trident." Ariel stood her ground fiercely.

"Even to me, that's cold. Very well then." Kane said indifferently, before swimming back to his own troops.

"Did they surrender?" Sebastian asked anxiously as Ariel and Melody returned to the frontline of their own troops.

"Not really," Melody prepared her crossbow.

"Since you have chosen to engage in an unnecessary battle," Major Kane called out from across the reef. "I shall make it all the more painful." He turned back to his numerous troops and beckoned for one to come forth.

An elderly merman made his way to the front line where Major Kane was, and to the horror of the Atlanticans, it was their king, Triton.

"You monster!" Ariel cried across the reef in anger.

"I told you," Kane called out coldly. "You would regret not taking me up on my offer." With that, he pointed at Atlantica, and all the mermen under his control surged forward, speeding towards the kingdom.

"Stop them but do not kill anyone!" Ariel shouted, before leading the charge towards the opposing forces.

The Atlanticans and the Major's brainwashed mermen collided at the reef, a flurry of various coloured tails, weapons and arms. Meanwhile, the remaining Atlanticans positioned behind the rocks in the kingdom looked on at the invaders, ready to defend their home. Since the princess had expressly commanded that they not kill any of their own merfolk, the soldiers had to fight with one hand tied behind their backs, while the brainwashed mermen had no compunctions about killing the Atlanticans.

In the heat of the battle, Melody dodged spears and arrows from crossbows, holding her own crossbow close to her chest. She looked around for the Major, since he was the one that posed the greatest threat. _If she could take him down, then she could bring an abrupt end to this mess._ A brainwashed merman swam towards her, armed to strike. As he lunged at her, she moved out of the way, using his momentum to trip his tail. The merman crashed onto the seabed, and Melody moved on, looking for the Major as she navigated through the crowded battlefield.

Meanwhile, Ariel blocked off attacks from the spear-wielding brainwashed mermen, keeping a look out for her father, Triton. _He had to be among the opposing forces somewhere!_ She spotted an elderly and well built merman on the other side of the battlefield, fighting against a few Atlanticans, easily disarming and incapacitating them.

"Daddy!" Ariel shouted, blocking off more attacks and swimming rapidly through the war zone. As she reached the other side of the battlefield where her father was, another two brainwashed mermen blocked her path. "Get out of the way!" she cried, using her momentum to barrel past the two mermen, sending them spinning out of control.

Triton hovered above an Atlantican soldier who was lying unconscious on the seabed and raised his spear, completely unconscious of the atrocity he was about to commit. Ariel lunged towards her father and pushed him away from the soldier, and the both of them went sprawling across the seabed.

"Daddy!" Ariel got up from the sand, swimming to where her father had fallen. "Can you hear me?" she called out hopefully.

Triton rose from the seabed, his eyes glazed over. He turned and looked at Ariel, completely unaware that his daughter was trying to get through to him. In a split second, he pounced towards her with his spear, and she quickly dodged the attack.

"Daddy, it's me! Ariel!" she shouted, raising the blunt side of the spear in defence.

Unresponsive, Triton swung his spear at his daughter, and she moved out of the way again. Ariel grunted in frustration. She thought that her voice or the sight of her could break him out of the hypnotic spell somehow, but she was just discovering that she could not be more wrong._ It was going to be way tougher than she thought it would be. _

On the other side of the battlefield, Melody spotted Major Kane watching the fight from a distance. "Kane!" she cried, barrelling towards him fearlessly. _He had turned her own grandfather against his beloved kingdom! How dare he?_

Major Kane narrowed his eyes as Melody broke out from the crowded battlefield to where he was hovering. He quickly unsheathed his Falchion as he saw Melody swoop down to the seabed to pick up a fallen spear after discarding her crossbow. "I warned you, didn't I?" he said as he expertly dodged Melody's attacks. "You would regret not giving up the trident."

"You're never getting the trident!" She launched another ferocious attack, but then quickly switched her stance halfway through, catching Kane off guard. The spear sliced through the water, making contact with Kane's arm. However, to her surprise, the spear did not stop at Kane's arm, but cut through Kane like he was water! Melody, having not anticipated the impact that she would make against the Major, was dragged to the seabed by her own momentum. She sat up quickly, to see that Major Kane was completely unharmed, and that he was flickering before her! Blinking her eyes, she could not believe what she was seeing.

"I guess the cat's out of the bag, Princess." Kane smirked, as he disappeared, leaving a red aura to dissipate from where he used to float.

_An optical illusion? _Melody pushed herself off the seabed, confused by what she had just witnessed. _That meant that Major Kane wanted everyone to think that he was on the battlefield! But if that was true, then where was the real Kane? Why would he need to project an optical illusion of himself? _Melody glanced around the battlefield. Major Kane was nowhere in sight. She floated away from the battlefield, looking back at the kingdom of Atlantica.

_The soldiers behind the reefs formed a perimeter around the kingdom, so how could Kane get through them? There was no way for Kane to get pass them without being spotted._ Melody's mind raced as she looked up at the surface to see a large shadow of a ship positioned near the rear of the kingdom. Then it dawned on her. No one had expected the invaders to attack from behind Atlantica since it was blocked by a huge mountain of rock that towered above the palace, but what if the attackers weren't mermen? Atlantica had prepared for war against threats from the sea, but what about the land? What if the attackers were humans that came from the surface? _If Kane and his mercenaries had dropped from above, they would have gotten into the palace undetected! _

"Argh!" Melody cried out, smacking a palm against her forehead, realising that she had unwittingly fallen prey to the Major's trick. Shedding her cumbersome armour, she launched herself off the reef and away from the battlefield. With her spear in hand, she sped back towards the palace, hoping that she wasn't too late.

Writer's Commentary:

This is the first time I'm writing a war scene, so it was really quite an experience. I went to research on some war tactics and stuff for this chapter, and tried to put it in context of a war under the sea. Writing the details of the battle was kind of tough though, because I needed to think in terms of being underwater, and how the merfolk would move and fight.

We also get to see Major Kane as a real monster, using Triton in his war against the Atlanticans. The twist was fun too, especially when Melody discovers Kane's true plan. I sure hope it was convincing enough, to show Kane as a cunning genius. We'll find out what happens next when Melody comes face to face with Kane in the throne room.


	16. Chapter 16: Inevitable

Chapter Sixteen

Inevitable

"Melody!" Ariel cried out, seeing her daughter swimming back towards the kingdom. _What on earth would possess her to leave halfway through the battle?_ As she was distracted, she almost did not see Triton's spear being swung in her direction, and she quickly moved out of the way just as the spear skimmed right in front of her face. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight as she realised that she had narrowly avoided being decapitated. Her focus was pulled back into the heat of the battle as her father, who was still unaware of his actions, continued to aggressively engage her in combat.

Racing past the borders of Atlantica, Melody stopped as she came across two motionless bodies lying in the sand with red mists oozing from them. She turned one of them over. _Atlantican guards. Major Kane must have attacked from above as he descended into the water and caught the sentries positioned on the upper levels of the palace off guard, killing them and tossing their lifeless bodies over the palace's walls onto the seabed below. _Melody pursed her lips tightly. _Sadly, now was not the time to mourn._ She got up from the seabed, and sped through the entrance of the palace. _Kane was way more intelligent and strategic than she had given him credit for. She should have expected no less from a military commander that called himself "the Major"._ She had no idea what she was getting herself into, but she knew that she had to stop the Major from getting the trident at all costs.

She swam through the corridors of the palace, past the library and through the armoury to pick up a new spear, and finally arrived at the royal court where the trident was being guarded by Tracy. Bursting through the doors of the royal court, Melody collided with a blast of black magic from Major Kane which sent her spiralling out of control. She crashed into a pillar hard and fell to the seabed in a heap.

"You know, for what it's worth, I've underestimated you. And that's not a compliment I give to many." Kane adjusted the snake totem on his finger. "You figured it out way quicker than I expected."

Rubbing the back of her neck, Melody looked up. Major Kane was in the far end of the room with a couple of his mercenaries that all carried knives and taking the form of mermen. Not only did Jafar the Genie transform Kane into a merman, but he did the same for the mercenaries too. Tracy was hovering near the throne of Queen Ariel, in between the Major and the trident.

"Tracy!" Melody grunted as she pushed herself up from the ground. "Whatever you do, don't let him get to the trident!"

Tracy looked at Melody. "Why not?"

A chill went down Melody's spine. "Tracy," she began cautiously, swimming slowly towards Kane's forces and Tracy. "We've been over this. You know what's going to happen if he gets his hands on the trident."

"Remind me again," Tracy said in a mysterious tone.

"He'll destroy all the ice caps and flood the earth! We can't let him have that kind of power! With the ice melted, the earth will be flooded and people will die!"

"And?"

"And? All of Atlantica's worst criminals that were frozen alive over the years would escape too!"

"Would that be such a bad thing?"

Melody stopped in her tracks, realising that Tracy's mother was one of the criminals that would be freed. She had just gotten her name engraved even deeper in Tracy's bad books.

"Tracy…" Melody began again warily. "We can sort this out later. But please," she approached the gap between Tracy and Major Kane. "Don't let him win."

Major Kane remained silent, watching Melody and Tracy in amusement. He subtly signalled for his mercenaries to let the two girls continue uninterrupted.

"And why would you trust me to do the right thing now?" Tracy looked at Melody, her face deliberately twisted in false confusion. "I thought I was a sea witch and couldn't be trusted."

"Please," Melody pleaded. "Don't do this."

"No, wait. Hang on, there's more!" There was a hint of danger in her voice, as if to tell Melody not to make another move forward. "I'm a sea witch that wields black magic." Tracy looked over at Major Kane. "And it was he who showed me the truth about who I really was back in Agrabah."

The corners of Kane's mouth turned upwards slightly into a small smirk. _This was working out even better than he had planned. _

"Please." Melody made a desperate attempt to reach out to Tracy, but was smacked back spitefully with a blue tentacle.

"No, Princess," Tracy said coldly. "You were wrong about me. I can't change who I am," Tracy looked at Major Kane again. "I might've left the Dark Zone but the darkness will always be a part of me. No use denying that."

Melody looked on in dismay as Tracy moved away from the throne, leaving Melody standing between the trident and the Major. She turned back to the Major, with her spear raised, ready for a fight.

"Then I guess it's just you and me." Melody narrowed her eyes, staring down the Major boldly. A purple mist engulfed her wrist, causing her to drop the spear in shock. A tentacle reached out and swept the spear across the ground, far out of Melody's reach.

"You misunderstood, Princess." Tracy said blackly, withdrawing the purple mist back into her hand. "I'm not just standing aside. I'm embracing who I truly am."

Melody looked at Tracy in shock and back at Major Kane, who smirked back.

Clenching his fist, a red aura surrounded Melody, trapping her in his black magic. She struggled to break free, while Kane lifted up his clenched fist. Melody was lifted up, unable to control her own movements. _Kane had gotten stronger since the last time they had fought back in the Agrabah marketplace! _Swinging his arm to the side with authority, Melody was thrown against Triton's throne, and she collided with it, hitting the ground in a daze.

"Tracy," she coughed as she struggled to get up, her body aching from the impact. "Please. You have to stop him."

"The Princess of Atlantica watching her own kingdom crumble. Hah! How ironic." Tracy gloated spitefully.

"Princess of Atlantica?" Kane remarked, puzzled. It took him a few seconds, but he put two and two together. "So, not just a Princess of the land, but of the sea too?" Kane smiled sinisterly at the newfound revelation, clenching his fist again, and the totem on his finger glowed ominously.

The red aura surrounding Melody grew smaller, tightening its grip on her. As she tried to break free, she was pulled towards the Major. Abruptly, her body stopped struggling and straightened out, much to her horror. _It was as if Kane was manipulating her every movement! _"Stop!" Melody shouted, as she felt herself lose control of her actions.

Kane opened his fist, moving his hand in the direction of the throne, where the trident stood beside it, and Melody found herself being forced in that direction. "From what I heard," Kane said as he forced Melody closer to the trident. "Only Poseidon, Triton or one of the descendants from their bloodline can remove the trident from its stand."

Melody tried her hardest to move but found that she couldn't. There was absolutely no way out for her.

"I figured that at some point during the war, I would have to pull Triton from the battlefield to get him to remove the trident for me." Kane continued. "It would mean drawing suspicion and attention to my real mission here," he pointed to his surroundings. "In the palace." He moved closer to Melody. "But then," he ran his hand through her hair gently, and she tried to flinch, but failed to break free of his control. "You, the descendant of Triton? It's all too good to be true. You came to the palace alone and solved my little predicament for me."

Melody glared at Major Kane. _She knew what he was about to do. It had happened once before, with a different enemy and under different circumstances, but it was essentially happening all over again. It was a déjà vu nightmare for her. _

Tracy smirked and folded her arms as she watched the look of dismay on Melody's face as she found herself helpless against the Major's black magic.

Melody felt her arm stiffen, and suddenly her hand shot out, reaching for the trident that stood beside the throne. With every ounce of strength in her body, she tried to resist the Major's control, but to no avail. Her hand latched onto the trident and her fingers closed around the handle of the trident. "No!" Melody cried out, as the trident was lifted out of its stand. Still desperately trying to fight back against the black magic that was controlling her, Melody was yanked towards Major Kane, the trident tightly gripped in her hand.

Kane loosened his clenched left fist, and Melody released her grip on the trident. He took the trident in his right hand, and it glowed golden. "Finally." The Major gloated, gazing in satisfaction at the glowing trident in his right hand. Kane could feel power like he had never felt before, coursing through his veins. _Now, he had control over not just one, but two mystical relics. With the snake totem and the trident, he was another step closer to completing his quest. _

"Give that back!" Melody lunged towards Kane, who had unconsciously released his control over Melody after acquiring the trident. She collided into the Major, causing him to drop the trident. It landed on the seabed, near Tracy.

"Bring it to me," Kane called out to Tracy, as he wrestled to stop Melody from attacking him. "And I'll give you a glimpse of what real power is in store for you."

"Tracy!" Melody shouted, as Kane tossed her violently to the seabed. "Don't do it!"

"Do what?" Tracy picked up the trident with a tentacle, and looked at Melody curiously. "This?" she tossed the trident to Major Kane, who caught it with his right hand.

"No!" Melody cried, getting up from the seabed.

Major Kane looked at Tracy in approval, and aimed his left hand at her. Tracy braced herself for the surge of black magic that was about to hit her.

"Stop!" Melody propelled herself off the seabed towards Major Kane. She barrelled into Kane again with all her might, in a desperate attempt to interfere with his aim, but it was too late.

A blast of dark red energy erupted from the snake totem on the Major's ring finger, and it engulfed Tracy. She basked in its power, much like she did back in the Agrabah marketplace, but this time, she controlled the energy, absorbing it into her being. "Ah…" she exhaled, looking at her hands which glowed with dark red energy. She did not even need the snake totem like Kane did, as she was already a sea witch with the potential of harnessing black magic naturally. The purple mist that she had once known was gone, being taken over by the dark red aura that gave her so much more control and strength than she had ever known before. _This…this was true power. _"You see this?" Tracy gloated ominously, floating towards Melody, who had been subdued by the Major. "This…is who I really am. A sea witch."

"No!" Melody shouted in desperation. "No, you're not!"

"Here, lemme show you." Tracy pointed both her palms at Melody, and dark red energy erupted from her hands, hitting Melody like a killer whale, and she dropped to the ground, knocked out cold from the impact. "How was that?" Tracy beamed wickedly.

"You have true potential," Major Kane smirked. "Come, we must go before the Atlanticans figure out the truth." He signalled to his mercenaries who were watching the entire debacle unfold that it was time to head back to the surface. Turning back to look at Tracy, he smiled. "Coming?"

"Yeah, of course." Tracy replied. _She felt like she had finally found her place. _

Swimming alongside the rest of the mercenaries, Tracy burst out of the back of the palace and headed back to the surface, with Major Kane leading the way. She glanced back down at the battlefield where the Atlanticans were fighting the brainwashed mermen.

"What's gonna happen to them?" she called out to Kane, who turned around.

"I have no more need of them." He replied, loosening and relaxing his left hand, and the snake totem glowed red.

Meanwhile, back on the battlefield below the escaping villains, the mermen who had been brainwashed suddenly froze, much to the surprise of the Atlanticans. They dropped their weapons, starting to regain their minds, their eyes no longer glazed over.

Triton, who had been about to clobber his own daughter, abruptly snapped out of his trance and blinked his eyes. "Ariel?" he was confused as to how he had wounded back in Atlantica and in the middle of a war, with his daughter in the middle of it all.

"Daddy! You're back!" Ariel got up from the seabed where her father had knocked her down and hugged him tightly. "Are you alright?" she asked him anxiously.

"Am I alright?" Triton exclaimed. "Are you?" he looked around at the battlefield, where hundreds of mermen looked as bewildered as he did. "What happened here?"

"Long story." Ariel released her grip on her father, relieved to have him back to his usual self.

Far above the messy battlefield of disoriented merfolk, Kane smirked. _His work in Atlantica was done._ "We have what we came for. Let's go." The Major, clutching the trident in his hand, continued to swim towards the surface, his mercenaries and Tracy in tow. Breaking through the surface, Kane sprung above the water, only to be met by a strong blast of ice. The ice quickly encased the Major, trapping him within, and he dropped back into the ocean with a loud splash, being pulled down by the weight of the icicle that he was imprisoned in.

Elsa withdrew her hands and exhaled sharply. _She couldn't believe that had worked._ After Santos had contacted her and warned her about the Major's next move, she, Moana and Maui had ambushed the Major's ship, using the cold fog as cover. Conveniently, the rest of the mercenaries who did not go with the Major were down in the ship's lower decks, and Elsa had used her powers to form a huge layer of ice, blocking off the stairwell and trapping the mercenaries below the deck. They had waited for the Major since then, ready to ambush him when he resurfaced.

"More incoming!" Moana shouted, positioning herself and armed with her spear as Kane's mercenaries quickly emerged from below the waters and transformed back into their human forms. They climbed onto the deck, and advanced towards the warriors.

Santos, who stood behind the rest of the mercenaries looked at Elsa and gave her a slight nod, as if to tell her that they would have to fight in order to maintain his cover.

Just as the warriors were about to collide with the mercenaries, a long blue tentacle slapped onto the deck in between both sides. "Hold it!" Tracy called out, pulling herself up to the deck from the ocean. "Don't wanna miss out on the fun."

"Tracy!" Elsa heaved a sigh of relief. "You're just in time." She realized that Melody had not reemerged together with the octopid. "Wait, where's Melody?"

"Mmmn…you don't get it," Tracy said in a dangerous tone as she morphed back into her human form. "While me and the princess were down in the ocean, I kinda had a change of heart."

"Wait, what does that mean?" Maui asked.

"That means she betrayed us." Moana pursed her lips and gritted her teeth. "I knew it was going to happen sooner or later."

"Well, better now than later," Tracy smirked. "This is who I really am, after all, aren't I?" She swiped a tentacle at Moana, who blocked it with the side of her spear. "A sea witch, just like you said I was." She lunged towards Moana, and tackled her to the ground. "Just took a little longer for me to embrace it."

Maui, dismayed at Tracy's betrayal, turned his focus to a couple of mercenaries who were advancing towards him. He shape-shifted into a brown bull with long horns and bulldozed a few of the mercenaries. Shapeshifting back into his normal form, the demigod swung his fish hook at the remaining mercenaries who were still standing in his path.

Santos, who had deliberately avoided conflict, looked at Elsa, who returned his glance. She gave a small nod in acknowledgement, and he rushed towards her.

For a moment, Elsa froze, and she couldn't decide whether Santos' attack was real or false. She panicked, but at the last moment, she noticed that Santos had intentionally slowed down, leaving himself open to attack. She swung at him, realizing in that moment that she did not know the first thing about hand to hand combat.

Santos caught her arm, and leaned in closer to her. "We're faking this, right?"

"Yeah?" Elsa replied, half uncertain about it. "I think so."

Leaving himself open to attack, Santos subtly motioned for Elsa to hit him. She hesitated, before landing a right cross on his cheek, but made sure she didn't hit him too hard. He dropped to the ground, instantly taking himself out of the fight.

Suddenly, a glowing golden light appeared from below the depths of the ocean, and a few seconds later, Major Kane burst through the surface of the water, transforming back into a human while catapulting through the air. Clutching the trident in his right hand, he landed on the deck on his two feet, and looked at Elsa. "That was unexpected." He narrowed his eyes at her dangerously. "I haven't seen you before," he sized his new enemy up and down. "You must be new."

Trying her best to conceal her fear, Elsa stared back at the Major with her icy blue eyes. She knew that she wasn't going to be able to avoid fighting Kane, but she just hoped that she had enough control over her powers to help her survive the inevitable conflict with Major Kane. _This was what she was most afraid of, and her worst fear had just come true. _

Writer's Commentary:

Tracy's betrayal…oh that was a juicy bit. I mean, we all saw it coming a mile away. I planted little seeds of mistrust here and there, and in this chapter, Tracy finally succumbed to her baser instincts, joining Major Kane. I wanted to expand on the process of Tracy's betrayal, by having that long conversation between her and Melody, with the latter realising that her friend is slipping away.

Tracy embraces her inner blackness and craving to be a true sea witch with black magic. Although we might find that hard to relate to as normal human beings, maybe we can at least agree that we all want to find our own place and belong somewhere where we are trusted and accepted for who we are, and that's exactly what Tracy wants. She didn't get that with the warriors, so she's hoping that she can get that with Kane.

And then, up at the surface, the warriors ambush Kane and his men, and everything will culminate in a massive showdown in the next chapter. Can't wait to write that!


	17. Chapter 17: The Hanedale Showdown

Chapter Seventeen

The Hanedale Showdown

The air around Elsa's palms grew cold and swirled around, forming little droplets of snow. A cold blast of ice came forth from Elsa's right hand and shot towards Major Kane. With quick reflexes, he lifted up his left hand, the snake totem glowing red. The black magic blocked and countered the blast of ice, completely neutralizing Elsa's attack.

Shocked at his counter, Elsa aimed her other palm at Kane, doubling the torrent of ice. The sheer impact of the increased attack forced Major Kane backwards, and Elsa dropped her guard a little on the inside, relieved that her attack was working.

Kane, his left hand still raised, sidestepped out of the blast of ice, and aimed his totem at her. With a bellow of rage, a dark red surge of energy swept towards Elsa. It hit her, and she exclaimed as she was knocked off balance, falling onto the slippery deck.

"I'm impressed," Kane walked towards her with the trident in his hand."Never have I seen such strange powers," he stopped and towered over a fallen Elsa, who backed away from him, trying to create some distance between herself and her enemy. "You're special. I've fought against the others, but you, you're the most formidable of them all. You're one of them. The elemental sorcerers."

Elsa was confused. _Elemental sorcerers? _She had never heard of them, but she had bigger problems to worry about now."Where's Melody?" she asked, scrambling to her feet. "What have you done with her?"

"Me?" Major Kane looked amused. "You should ask your former teammate."

Elsa shot a look over at Tracy who was still locked in the middle of a grudge match against her mortal enemy, Moana.

"I knew you would turn against us at some point!" Moana shouted as she continuously lashed out at Tracy with her tribal spear. "You're nothing more than a sea witch!"

"Yeah, and you're nothing more than a failed village chief." Tracy fended off the flurry of Moana's attacks, paying extra attention to avoid the sharp tip of the spear. "Oh wait, you don't even have a village anymore!" She taunted as she sidestepped another swing of the spear.

Moana cried out in rage and the necklace around her neck glowed a bright yellow. Sparks of white magic flew from Moana's hand as she threw them at the sea witch. However, they were nothing compared to Tracy's enhanced powers granted to her by her new ally.

With a swift block, Tracy's dark red energy protected her from Moana's onslaught. "Heh. Is that all?" she continued to taunt Moana.

Moana dropped her spear and focused on throwing yellow streaks of energy at Tracy, who seemed not in the least bit fazed by the attacks. The white magic bounced off of Tracy's shield of dark red energy like raindrops off an umbrella.

"That's all? You're done?" Tracy smirked villainously. "Then it's my turn." Both her hands glowed red, auras of black magic surrounding her fists, growing bigger by the second. As the auras grew dangerously huge, Tracy tossed them in Moana's direction.

Moana leapt out of the way, and the black magic exploded just to her right. The shockwave from the eruption of energy radiated out from the epicentre, knocking Moana over the deck and she crashed heavily into the ocean.

"You have such great power."

Elsa was jolted back to her own predicament and yelped as she scrambled out of the way just as a surge of golden energy flew towards her. She could see the trident's blast of magic flash before her eyes as she narrowly dodged it.

"So much potential." Kane aimed the trident at Elsa, who had nowhere else to run. "It's a shame that this is the last time you get to use them."

"No!" Maui threw himself with all his might against the Major, and sent both of them sprawling to the deck.

Elsa breathed heavily, realising that she had just narrowly avoided being vaporised into atoms. It was a miracle that Maui had been there at the right moment to save her. _Wait, Moana! She had been thrown into the ocean by Tracy's attack!_ Elsa placed both her hands on the beam of the deck, searching frantically for Moana. Suddenly, a strong surge of dark red energy hit her from behind, knocking her overboard. She crashed into the ocean, just like Moana did before her. Elsa emerged from below the surface, choking on the seawater that she had swallowed when she had hit the water. Pushing her soaked platinum blond hair away from her face, she looked up to see Tracy gloating at the edge of the deck. _There was no point in fighting back against the octopid. Besides, she had bigger problems to worry about. _Elsa treaded water, looking around her. _Where was Moana? _

At that moment, a weary Melody emerged from below the surface with an unconscious Moana propped against her.

"Melody! You're alright!" Elsa exclaimed in relief.

"Tracy," Melody began weakly. "She-"

"Yes, we know," Elsa helped to put one of Moana's arms around her own shoulders, taking a load off Melody. "She's aligned herself with the Major."

"Yeah." Melody put Moana's other arm around her own shoulders, just like Elsa had done. "Help me get her back to our own ship. Is it far?"

"It's just a bit further down from here. We stopped a bit behind the Major's ship so that we could ambush him discreetly." Elsa pointed to their own ship which lay behind the fog which gave them cover.

Elsa and Melody swam back to their own ship, dragging an unconscious Moana with them. When they reached their own ship, Elsa propped Moana up near the side of the ship. Aiming at the water below Moana, she froze it, careful to avoid freezing her in the water. Continuing to freeze the same spot, the ice slowly thickened below Moana. Elsa adjusted her aim, and the water beneath the ice froze as well and began to raise her to the deck of the ship.

"Hang on." Elsa beckoned for Melody to hold on to her, and she did the same for the water beside her. As the water froze, she and Melody climbed onto the ice and was raised to the deck of the ship. They carried Moana and placed her on the deck.

Melody collapsed on her back, lying on the deck beside Moana, and placed a hand on her locket. The locket glowed golden, and her salmon-pink tail disappeared and was replaced by her legs. Exhausted, she looked up at Elsa. "Where's Maui?" Melody asked weakly, before passing out.

"He's still fighting the Major!" It suddenly dawned on Elsa that she had left him to confront the Major alone. She scrambled to the edge of the deck, and dived back into the ocean.

###

Meanwhile, back on the Major's ship, Maui and Kane continued to wrestle to gain an edge over each other, both equally matched in strength and speed. Their muscles tensed, veins popping and sweat dripping from their faces. They stared down each other, neither willing to budge, while Tracy looked on in amusement.

"Not bad, demigod." Major Kane grunted. "I see you've learnt something vital since the last time we fought."

"Yeah, what's that?" Maui growled, swinging his fish hook at the Major.

Kane swiftly raised the trident, blocking Maui's attack. "To not underestimate me." He smirked, as he aimed the trident at Maui.

A blast of light rocketed towards Maui, who dove out of the way. Crouched, he aimed at Kane's right hand, and threw his fish hook with all his might. The fish hook flew threw the air with great velocity, not giving Kane any time to react. The fish hook bounced off Kane's wrist, causing him to drop the trident and clutch his hand in pain.

"Maybe you should learn to not underestimate me either." Maui retorted, sprinting towards Major Kane, catching his fish hook that came back to him like a boomerang. He leapt into the air, with the fish hook held over his head. With a deafening roar, he came crashing down towards Kane, who narrowly moved out of the way. As Maui landed on the deck, the impact he created caused a dent in the deck's wooden flooring, and his fish hook got stuck in the wreckage.

"Enough." Kane dealt a vicious blow to Maui's cheek as he was attempting to pull his fish hook free from the damaged flooring. With quick precision, he landed a couple of blows to various weak spots on Maui's body, and the demigod staggered, having managed to dislocate his weapon from the deck. He was stunned by the Major's speed and ferocity.

Taking a deep breath, Kane clenched his left fist and the snake totem on his ring finger glowed ominously. He bellowed as he threw a final punch across his opponent's face, which resulted in a blinding red light. As the totem connected with Maui's face, black magic erupted from the impact and Maui was thrown to the opposite end of the deck. He dropped to the ground, unconscious, his fish hook dropping from his limp hand.

Major Kane walked across the deck towards Maui, perspiration dripping from his face. He had not been challenged by anyone like that in such a long time, and he was genuinely impressed. He approached the fallen Maui. "Take pride in this, demigod. You lasted longer than most." He raised his left hand, pointing the snake totem at Maui. "But now it's time for you to fulfil your part in my plan."

As dark red energy flowed out of the snake totem towards the unconscious demigod, a volley of ice cut the black magic off.

"What?" Major Kane turned to his right, and saw Elsa climbing over the deck, dripping wet from the ocean water. "You again?"

"Got to give it to her. Snow Queen's persistent." Tracy shrugged as she leaned against the beam.

"Get away from him, you monster!" Elsa cried, sliding across the deck and stopping between Kane and Maui, while Tracy continued to watch the action unfold.

"Pot, kettle." Kane drew his Falchion from his belt.

In response, Elsa formed her own sword made out of ice, and stood in anticipation for a rematch.

Major Kane lashed out quickly, and Elsa almost failed to duck out of the way in time. She could feel the wind from the Falchion sword cutting through the air inches away from her nose, and saw the water droplets fall from the blade right before her eyes as if they were moving in slow motion.

As Elsa skidded across the deck, she was careful to avoid the mercenaries that Maui had taken out earlier. As she avoided the Major's attacks while drawing him away from Maui, she noticed that the deck was soaked with numerous puddles of water. _Kane and his mercenaries must have drenched the deck unintentionally when they had returned from Atlantica to their own ship. She could use that to her advantage. _As the Major drew nearer, waving his sword menacingly, she kicked a puddle of water towards him, and quickly, she lifted up her free hand. The water froze mid air and turned into sharp little hailstones. Pellets of hailstones rained down on the Major, and he was distracted trying to fend off the tirade of hailstones that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

Seizing the opportunity, Elsa launched another stream of ice towards the Major, knocking him backwards. He crashed into the beam of the deck, and Elsa dropped the ice sword in her hand. She used both hands to focus her attack on Kane, her eyebrows knitted together in intense concentration. The ice surrounded Kane, who struggled to break free, but it encased him. His expression was filled with rage as he was rendered motionless. Elsa dropped her hands when she was sure that there was no way Kane could escape from her prison of ice, exhausted from doing her best to maintain control over her powers while being overwhelmed by the fear that was screaming in her head.

There was silence on the deck and Elsa exhaled, unable to believe that she had actually managed to temporarily incapacitate the Major. Knowing him, the ice wouldn't hold him for long, so she had to hurry. As she was about to run to Maui, Tracy moved to intercept her.

"Sorry, sis," Tracy's eyes gleamed with evil intentions. "Can't let you win."

"Tracy, if you aren't going to help us, get out of the way," Elsa replied in exasperation, discreetly forming a club made out of ice behind her back. "I don't have time for this."

"Make time." Tracy's hands glowed red.

"I don't want to hurt you," Elsa swung the blunt weapon. "But I really don't have time for this." Tracy saw the club flying towards her, but she had no time to react. The club connected with the octopid's head, and she fell to the ground, unconscious from Elsa's coincidentally well placed strike. "Sorry." Shocked that she had floored Tracy so quickly, Elsa turned her attention to the fallen demigod. "Maui!" she exclaimed, running across the slippery deck. _Even with their combined powers, Maui and herself were hopelessly outmatched by the Major, and there was no way they were going to win this battle by themselves. They needed to retrieve the stolen trident and get away from Kane's ship to regroup with the rest. _

Elsa picked up the trident that the Major had dropped during his fight against Maui as well as Moana's spear that she had left behind, and skidded to a stop as she reached the opposite end of the deck, and knelt down beside Maui. Seeing the team's most durable warrior as bruised and battered as he was struck new fear into her heart, and a chill ran down her spine. "Come on, you have to get up!" Elsa placed the trident and the spear beside her, and placed her hands under Maui's arms, trying her hardest to lift him up. She heaved as hard as she could, grunting as she tried to move him but he did not budge an inch. Maybe she was far too exhausted from the fight, or maybe there was a more likely explanation: Maui was far too heavy. There was absolutely no way she was going to be able to get him across to their own ship by herself."Come on!" she shouted, attempting to shake the demigod awake. No response. "Maui!" she shook him harder, her voice frantic. _Still no response. _

Suddenly, a red light glowed from behind Elsa, and she turned around to see it coming from the ice which held the Major in place. The red light grew brighter and increasingly intense, and the ice started to crack. Finally, with a loud bellow and an explosion of dark red energy, the ice broke apart and flew across the deck.

Elsa raised her arms to protect herself from the flying fragments of ice. Her heart sank. _It was too soon!_ She had expected the ice to hold the Major long enough for them to make their escape with the trident, but apparently, she had underestimated Kane's strength and willpower.

Major Kane broke free from the remaining ice, and stood up, shivering. "Enough games," Kane growled, his voice ominous and irritated. "I've grown tired of dealing with you lot." He held out his left arm, which was shaking from the cold, and the snake totem glowed red.

_That red glow was never a good sign!_ Elsa quickly positioned herself in front of Maui to shield him. She picked up Maui's fish hook and the spear and held them up in a crossed formation, desperately hoping that they would provide them with some protection against the Major's ferocious attack. She shut her eyes tightly and pressed close to Maui, bracing herself for the blast of black magic that was about to hit them both.

Black magic erupted from the snake totem, and engulfed Elsa and Maui in an aura of red light. Major Kane lifted up his arm, which was still numb from the ice that Elsa had trapped him in, and with a angry yell, threw out his arm as hard as he could towards the direction of the warriors' own ship.

Maui and Elsa, still clutching the fish hook and the spear, were sent flying through the air and over the surface of the ocean. They landed back on their own ship, hitting the deck hard. Elsa let go of the fish hook and the spear as her body made contact with the hard wooden floor, and the weapons slid across the deck, coming to a stop near the unconscious Melody and Moana. She was knocked out almost immediately upon impact with the hard wooden floor of the deck.

Maui, who had already been rendered unconscious back on the Major's ship, crashed and fell through the flooring of the deck, creating a large hole in the planks. He landed heavily in the bilge of the ship, causing the warriors' ship to rock back and forth from the impact.

Back on the Hanedale, Major Kane looked out beyond the deck. Although he could not see past the fog that Elsa had conjured up, he knew roughly where his enemies' ship was. With his right hand, Kane picked up the trident from the ground that the warriors had failed to retrieve, and lifted it up into the air. It glowed golden, and he pointed it in the direction of the warriors' ship.

Elsa and the rest were oblivious to the waters below their ship, which had begun to stir. Waves swirled around the ship, slowly forming a tornado of water, with the ship in the middle. The tornado of water grew wider and taller, and the water began to move in a clockwise direction, picking up speed. The ship was lifted from the surface of the water, and was spun around with increasing speed, being influenced by the clockwise current of the water.

With a loud grunt, Kane jerked the trident forward violently, and in an instant, the tornado suddenly disappeared along with the warriors' ship. There was a perfect calm that fell across the ocean, and the cold fog that Elsa had created began to fade, as she was no longer in the vicinity. Kane smirked. _Now, with those pesky warriors gone, he could continue with his quest, which was soon coming to an end. _

Writer's Commentary:

Whew. The entire chapter was just non-stop action. There was the sequence of battles: Elsa vs Major Kane, Tracy vs Moana, Maui vs Major Kane. It was rather exhausting to conjure up, but it was immensely fun.

Elsa vs Major Kane. That was a showdown I've been itching to create for a long time, and it was rather satisfying for me. I hope it resonated with you guys. I wanted to showcase Elsa's true power, which surprises even Major Kane. I sort of low key set up something that could potentially happen in a sequel, so stay tuned for that. But more than that, I really wanted to get into the nitty gritty details of the fight between two strong magic-wielders. Major Kane, who has shown himself as a formidable force to be reckoned with, and Elsa, who is discovering that her powers can be used to fight against evil.

This chapter is rather important for Elsa, as she is learning to harness her powers and bring them to new heights, as well as learn that her powers aren't a curse, and that this was why she was brought on the mission in the first place. Nevertheless, it was inevitable that at the end of the chapter, Kane had to win. His quest still has to go on, and it can't happen with the warriors in his way, so we'll find out what happens to them soon!


	18. Chapter 18: Fallout

Chapter Eighteen

Fallout

Gasping, Melody's eyes opened abruptly. A beam of light hit her, and her senses were overcome by the stunningly bright light. She shut her eyes quickly in pain, and after a few seconds, she cautiously opened them again. As her eyes fluttered open slowly, she realised that it was just the blinding sunlight. The smell of salty seawater was overwhelming, and she sat up, nursing her aching body from the battle in Atlantica. A humid breeze caused her hair to be blown in all directions. She pushed her sand filled hair out of her face and looked around at her surroundings.

The ship was in ruins, the wooden planks of the deck damaged, and various parts of the ship had been utterly destroyed. _There was even a huge hole in the deck!_ Melody got up from the deck and scrambled to the edge of the hole and knelt down. She looked down into the hole. Down in the bilge of the ship, Maui lay in the wreckage of the deck that had broken and fallen away due to the impact when he had crashed into their ship. He was still unconscious, and had several bruises and cuts on his heavily tattooed body. _Was that even possible? He was supposedly an invincible demigod! What had happened? _Seeing him wounded reminded her of the first time she had met Maui when he had crash landed into the ocean back in Denmark.

Melody got back to her feet, musing how she was going to get Maui out of the bilge alone. _Wait, speaking of alone, where were the rest?_ She looked around the deck, but her companions were nowhere to be seen. She rushed to the edge of the deck, and looked outwards. Elsa and Moana lay on the sand not far from the ship, having been thrown from the ship in the aftermath of the tornado.

_Sand? Where were they? What had happened?_ She looked around. The ship had washed up on the shore of some sort of beach, and she couldn't really make out anything past what seemed like miles of sand. There were some trees far away in the distance that seemed like tiny dots, maybe they could find help there. _But how did she and the others get to this place?_

Everything seemed foggy to her. She frowned, trying to remember what had happened before she lost consciousness. _Atlantica, yes, that was where she was when the war started. She had sped back to the palace after discovering the Major's deception to try to stop him from stealing the trident, and Tracy…Tracy! She had betrayed the team and formed an alliance with Kane!_ _Tracy had hit her with potent black magic, and when she had mustered up the energy to give chase, everyone had already left, and the trident was gone. _

She remembered leaving the palace and seeing that the war had stopped, and that the brainwashed mermen had regained control of their actions. _No doubt the Major's doing. The army of menfolk must have served their purpose in his plan, and he had no more use for them, thus relinquishing his control over their minds._ The aftermath of the war was horrible. Parts of the infrastructure of the kingdom had been damaged, some of the guards had been killed by the Major, and the brainwashed merfolk were trying to make sense of what they had done, while the Atlanticans were trying to restore order now that the battle was over.

Melody, having seen the aftermath of the war, wanted to help, but the retrieval of the trident was far more important. As she neared the surface where the Major's ship was, to her horror she saw Moana plunge through the water, unconscious and sinking. Already in her weakened state, she had used all of her remaining strength to bring Moana back to the surface for air.

Thankfully, Elsa was there to help her bring Moana back to their own ship. When they had finally gotten back to the deck, Melody had intended to go back with Elsa to help end the Major's quest once and for all, but she was still reeling from the black magic that Tracy had hit her with. Succumbing to her exhaustion, she had collapsed on the deck beside Moana, and the next thing she knew, now here she was, trying to deal with the fallout from the battle against Major Kane.

_It still didn't explain how they had ended up wherever they were though. _Melody looked around at her surroundings again. The midday sun was unbearable, and the sweltering heat was causing her to sweat buckets. Tropical weather. Rather different from where they had just been, near Denmark's waters. _So how exactly did they end up in a completely different place?_ She wiped off beads of perspiration from her brow, and kept her hand on her forehead, trying to fit together the pieces of the puzzle. _The trident! That was the answer! Major Kane had used the powers of the trident to manipulate the waters into sending them as far away from him as he possibly could! _

"Ugh…"

Melody spun around to see Moana slowly getting up from the sand, and leaped off the ship. She landed on the soft sand, and ran over to help her up. She extended a hand to Moana, who took it.

"Where are we?" Moana asked, squinting and putting a hand above her eyes to block out the blinding sun.

"I don't know," Melody replied. "Are you alright?"

"Alright? Do I look alright to you?"

Melody looked at Moana. She too had a couple of bruises that had turned blue after her fight aboard the Major's ship. "We've all looked better." Melody stated dryly.

"Any idea as to how we ended up here?"

"Kane," Melody replied grimly. "He must have used the trident to banish us far away from him so that we would not be able to get in his way again."

"Huh. Where's the rest?"

"Elsa's over there," Melody pointed at Elsa who was still lying unconscious on the sand. "And Maui's still on the ship, in bad shape."

"Oh yeah, and I think you forgot to mention, our favourite sea witch who isn't here with us," Moana said sarcastically. "Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

"I know, I was there when she made the choice to betray us." Melody was exasperated, partially because of the heat, and partially because Moana was trying to pick a fight with her again. "You don't have to rub it in."

"Yeah, I don't," Moana agreed. "Look at the ship," she pointed at their ship, which was a total wreck. "I think that's enough evidence to tell you that your judgement of her was way off, and now the rest of us are paying the price for it."

"Look, I'm sorry, but how was I supposed to know that Tracy was going to turn on us?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe if you paid more attention the first thousand times and saw her for what she really was, we wouldn't be stuck here right now."

"Would you two just stop arguing for one second?"

Moana and Melody were interrupted from their heated conversation, and turned to see Elsa getting up from the sand, slowly standing to her feet.

"My head hurts enough without having to listen to you two squabble." Elsa dusted the sand off her face. She undid her french braid and tried to shake all the sand out from her undone hair. _The heat was absolutely unbearable! _The humid air made her feel like she was trapped in the world's largest sauna, and it was an extremely unpleasant feeling for her, since she very much preferred the cold.

"You're one to talk," Moana shot back. "You were the last one standing against the Major back on his ship, you should have gotten the trident, but yet, here we are."

"What do you care about the trident?" Melody cut in, vexed. "The whole reason you came on this mission was to satisfy your personal vendetta against Kane."

"Remind me again who invited you guys on this little quest of ours?" Moana glared back at Melody and Elsa. "Because I don't remember asking you guys."

"He did," Melody pointed towards the ship, where Maui was still lying unconscious in the bilge.

"Yeah, and look what happened?" Moana replied with increasing hostility. "He's hurt badly, the ship is wrecked, and we have no way off this-this… wherever we are! He was wrong to bring this team of misfits together."

"It sounds to me like you have a problem with misfits," Elsa had a tone in her voice that screamed annoyed.

"So what if I did?" Moana folded her arms. "Doesn't change where we are right now. I mean, how can things get any worse than this?"

Just as Moana finished her sentence, a loud creak came from the damaged ship, and the three girls turned around.

"Maui." Elsa started to sprint across the sand, followed closely behind by the other two girls. As they got to the ship, they realized that the ship was lopsided, and the side of the deck was too high up for them to reach. Elsa attempted to use her powers to form ice to propel her to the deck, but she couldn't feel the cold in her palms as usual. She looked at her hands. _Her powers weren't working!_ "Guys," she turned to look at Melody and Moana. "My powers aren't working! I don't know why."

"You must be dehydrated," Melody offered a guess. "That's probably why your ice can't form. Not enough water."

Elsa nodded, realising that it made sense. She had a throbbing headache, probably from the dehydration, so that explained why her powers weren't working.

"Let's head to the other side," Moana said. "The deck will be within reach for us to climb."

The three girls ran around the ship to the other side, and climbed the side onto the deck. They made their way to the hole in the flooring, and saw that Maui had awoken, and was standing silently in the bilge of the ship.

"Maui!" Without thinking, Elsa leapt through the hole in the deck, and landed in the half submerged bilge. She looked up at Maui, who looked straight ahead with glassy eyes, not even acknowledging her presence.

"Is he alright?" Moana called from above, looking down into the bilge with Melody.

"I don't know!" Elsa replied worriedly. "He looks fine, but there's something wrong!" She waded towards Maui through the water, which rose to her thighs. "Maui, we're safe. The Major isn't here." Elsa placed her hand on Maui's, which was stiff. He continued to stare straight ahead, unresponsive to Elsa's touch.

"Elsa!"

Elsa looked up at Moana and Melody, who both looked bewildered.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know! He's not responding to anything!" Elsa said anxiously, and looked back at Maui. "Maui, please, you're scaring us."

Suddenly, Maui flinched, to Elsa's surprise. He looked at her, and she looked up at him anxiously. She could see that his eyes were still glassy, as if his mind was somewhere far away, but suddenly, the colour returned to his eyes, as if he were fighting to regain control. "Elsa? I'm sorry." he struggled to utter the words, before his eyes glazed over again.

"Maui?" Elsa was confused and upset. "What's going on?"

Maui did not respond or look at her, but instead looked up at the hole in the deck. Crouching, he poised himself for a huge leap.

"Move!" Melody realized what the demigod was about to do, and scrambled away from the hole quickly, pulling Moana with her.

Maui rocketed out of the bilge into the air, and landed heavily on his feet on the deck. His eyes still glazed over, he walked past Melody and Moana to where his fish hook was, and picked it up.

"Maui! What are you doing?" Moana cried out, seeing her best friend in a hypnotized state for the first time.

Elsa raced up the stairs of the bilge hurriedly and burst out onto the deck, joining Moana and Melody. "Maui! Can you hear me? Maui!"

The demigod remained emotionless, as if having not heard his friends call out desperately for him. He looked out beyond the ocean at the horizon, head cocked, as if listening to someone, although there was absolute silence except for the crashing of the waves. Then, with his fish hook in hand, Maui shape-shifted into a large brown hawk before the girls' eyes, and flew over the ocean and away from the girls, to their horror.

"What just happened?" Elsa broke the silence after what seemed like forever.

"Kane," Melody uttered the dreaded name. "He did this. He controlled the mermen army down in Atlantica, and now he's doing the same to Maui. I recognized those glassy eyes. His mind is being controlled by the black magic."

"What are we going to do now?" Elsa asked.

"I don't know," Melody bit her bottom lip. "Maui's gone, Tracy's aligned herself with the Major, and we're shipwrecked here. I don't know what to do."

Moana turned to walk away without saying a word, and Elsa and Melody noticed.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Melody called out after Moana. "The team has already fallen apart, don't leave us too!"

Without responding, Moana jumped back down onto the sand, and walked away, leaving Melody and Elsa on the deck, upset and confused.

"What happens now?" Elsa looked at Melody, who had an empty expression on her face.

"I don't know."

All evidence pointed to the fact that their mission was over. They had failed.

###

"Sir?"

Major Kane gazed at the trident, mesmerised by the mystical weapon that he had heard and read so much about, ignoring whoever was calling him.

"Sir!"

Looking up in exasperation, he saw his right hand man, Santos, standing before him. "What is it, Santos?" Kane asked, vexation in his voice.

"Look," Santos pointed a finger at the horizon, and Kane looked where his right hand man was pointing. The glowing sun was setting against crimson red skies, and a couple of small clouds were layered over the sun, scattering rays of light in all directions. Against the setting sun, a large brown hawk was flying towards the Major's ship, its wings flapping steadily and consistently like clockwork.

Major Kane narrowed his eyes. "Finally."

The brown hawk landed on the deck heavily, causing the ship to be rocked back and forth on the water. Some of the mercenaries on the deck, including Santos, lost their balance. Looking straight at Kane, the hawk moved towards him, claws digging into the deck with each step. As the large creature approached him, Major Kane stood his ground, unflinching and with no trace of fear in his eyes.

Tracy, who was sitting on some crates at the side of the deck watched as the hawk approached her new ally. She looked amused as she watched the events unfold before her eyes. After the Major had banished the warriors to the Mozambique Channel in Southeast Africa, the cold fog that Elsa had created slowly vanished, and he had commanded that they continue on their voyage. As the ship moved off, Kane had sat on the deck in solitude, concentrating hard in conjuring up a spell with the help of the snake totem. Tracy had witnessed him intensely utter words in a language that she did not understand. The black magic that Kane was practicing was way out of her league, and she could only watch and hope that she would reach his level of expertise someday. After all, that was the main reason why she had decided to ditch her old team in favour of joining the Major: to embrace her identity as a sea witch and learn to better control the dark arts.

Still clutching the trident in his right hand, Kane clenched his left fist, and the snake totem on his ring finger glowed red. "Stop."

The brown hawk stopped before Kane, obeying his command, eyes glazed over. It shapeshifted into the form of a man, carrying the fish hook in hand, and stood tall in front of the Major with no trace of emotion.

"The great Maui," Kane sized the compliant demigod up. "Not so tough anymore, is he?"

"He always seemed like a big softie to me," Tracy got down from the crates that she had been sitting on, and walked towards the Major and Maui. "What d'you want him for anyway?"

"Have you ever heard of the heart of Te Fiti?" Major Kane glanced over at Tracy, who looked baffled.

"Yeah, you mentioned it back in the Agrabah marketplace. But what is it?"

There was a slight twitch in Maui's expression, as if some part of his consciousness had reacted to the Major when he mentioned the heart of Te Fiti. After all, he knew all too well what it was, having been entangled in a quest concerning the heart of Te Fiti two years ago, as well as a millennium before that.

"Our element of salvation." Kane replied cryptically.

"Huh?" Tracy asked, still puzzled. There was still so much that she didn't know about magic and the black arts, and she was counting on the Major to enlighten her and show her the way to becoming a true sea witch.

"More than a millennium ago in the South Pacific, a goddess called Te Fiti was responsible for the creation of life and nature, and took on the form of an island. Her heart was the key to manipulating creation. However, this demigod here-" Kane pointed the trident at Maui, who continued to stand still, his eye twitching slightly while awaiting his new master's command. "-stole the heart from Te Fiti, and without her heart, the goddess became a lava demon, placing a curse on the world. If the heart wasn't returned to her, the world would slowly crumble into disaster and be destroyed eventually. After a long battle between the lava demon and Maui, both he and the heart vanished for a thousand years."

"I don't get where this is going." Tracy said impatiently.

"Patience. A thousand years later, enter your good friend Moana," Kane glanced at Tracy, who scoffed. "The life force of the ocean chose her to return the heart of Te Fiti, and presented her with it. She knew that she could only return it with the help of Maui the demigod, and sought him out. Together, they returned the heart and broke the curse that the goddess had placed on the world a thousand years ago, and the earth was saved. You remember two years ago when the earth's waters gradually became choppier and the marine life started to die? And then suddenly it all stopped and returned to normal?" Kane asked.

Tracy nodded. She remembered when the seabed in the Dark Zone where she lived had started to tremble and cause all sorts of quakes, and that she and her wretched relatives had no clue as to what was going on.

"That was the curse. And our brave heroes broke it." Kane continued. "And I have reason to believe-" he glanced at Maui again, whose expression appeared tortured as he was forced to listen to Kane recount the story. "That if the heart were to be stolen yet again, Te Fiti would descend into a rage. The curse's effect would be accelerated, and the world would crumble in a matter of hours."

"But…" Tracy was shocked and dumbfounded. "Why-"

"Why do I need the heart when I have the trident?" Kane finished her sentence. "Melting the ice caps would only do so much damage. But if I steal the heart, earthquakes, typhoons and tsunamis on scales that the world has never seen would cleanse this planet and wash away the scourge of humanity."

A shocked Tracy kept silent. _That was not what she meant when she had asked why. She wanted to know why he was so hell bent on destroying the earth, but he had assumed that she knew of his reasons, having already descended into madness beyond reason and rationalized his intentions. This was way above her pay grade. All she wanted was to learn how to harness black magic more efficiently to be a real sea witch like her family members. All this, this was genocide he was talking about! It was too much for her. Kane was a monster. Maybe she had made a mistake. _

"Now," Kane turned his attention to the brainwashed demigod. "Bring me the heart of Te Fiti."

A strained look appeared on Maui's face, as if he was trying to fight the mind control. His body twitched as he attempted to resist the Major's command, trying to raise the fish hook in his hand to attack Kane.

"You're trying to fight," Kane mused, impressed by the demigod's strength of mind. "So you actually have brains to match that brawn. Your mind is much stronger than I thought, but that won't save you." He clenched his left fist and the snake totem glowed bright red.

All of a sudden, Maui stopped twitching and struggling, and his eyes were glazed over again. He stood upright again like a compliant soldier in Kane's army, no longer able to fight the Major's influence over his mind.

"Now," Kane whispered, leaning closer to Maui, his demeanour dark and ominous. "Bring me the heart of Te Fiti."

Maui turned his back to Major Kane and in a flash of light, shape-shifted back into a brown hawk. Taking a great leap, he catapulted himself off the deck and into the air, flapping his gigantic wings with great force. He flew away from the Major's ship, and off into the sunset to retrieve the heart of Te Fiti once more.

"Once I have the heart," Kane said in a normal tone, watching as the brainwashed demigod flew off to fulfil the next stage of his quest. "Then we'll be ready for the last stage of my crusade. The end is near." He walked away, trident still in hand, leaving a dumbfounded Tracy to process what she had just seen and heard.

Writer's Commentary:

This chapter is kind of a new low for our heroines. Major Kane stole the Lamp of Jafar from Agrabah. He stole the trident from Atlantica. Tracy aligned herself with Kane. And now, Maui is being mind controlled, leaving the three girls shipwrecked in a place they don't even know. Things are looking incredibly bleak for the warriors, as the team is in ruins. It looks like their mission is over, but is it really? Are our heroines really going to give up?


	19. Chapter 19: A Dark Night

Chapter Nineteen

A Dark Night

The fire blazed on top of the pile of wood that Melody and Elsa had collected from the forest. Although it was extremely humid and warm due to the climate, they had no choice as it had grown dark and they needed light to ward off potential predators that could be lurking in wait. After Moana had walked off into the forest, the two girls were left to figure things out on their own. Melody and Elsa had quickly built the fire near the coast line as they were losing light, and found two big rocks for them to sit on beside the fire. They had brought the rocks to put beside the fireplace, and were now silently watching the flames dance, not knowing what to do next. Melody poked the wood aimlessly with a stick that she had found on the ground, while Elsa watched her.

"So…" Elsa began.

Melody continued to poke the wood with the stick.

"Aren't we going to do something?"

"I don't know," Melody broke out of her silence, looking at Elsa. "Why are you asking me? Why does everyone keep asking me what we're going to do?"

"It…just seems like you always have the answers," Elsa replied. "You've had an answer to every problem we've faced so far."

"Well I don't. Not anymore, at least." She turned her attention back to poking the fire with the stick. "Maui's brainwashed, Tracy turned evil, Moana left us, and our ship's wrecked." Melody looked at Elsa again. "Did I miss anything?" she looked back at the dancing flames. "What's left for us to do?"

"I don't know," Elsa stood up. "But I'm sure we can figure something out together. If we try."

Melody chuckled. "Look around, Elsa. There's nothing left for us to do. There's nothing left that we _can_ do. We're stranded here." Throwing the stick into the fire, she watched as the flames consumed it, and mused sardonically that the stick was just like her hope, which had been incinerated and her energy burnt out. Melody walked away from the bonfire to the edge of the coast, leaving Elsa alone by the fire.

###

Meanwhile, in the dense forest not far from where the other two girls were, Moana sat on the uneven ground with her back resting against a tall tree, her knees tucked close to her chest. As she sat in the darkness without any source of light, she allowed the tears to flow freely down her cheeks. No one could see her anyway and she was alone, so she could allow herself to be vulnerable. _How did everything in her life go wrong so fast?_ Just a few days ago, she was living her best life as the Chief of Motunui, and now, here she was, stranded on an island in some unknown part of the world, her family killed and her village destroyed by the Major.

Moana sobbed as she rested her head against the rough trunk of the tree she was sitting under. At least away from the others, she didn't have to hide her emotions. All along throughout the mission, she had tried to put up a brave front and tough exterior to hide her pain and anger, and had even taken out her frustrations on the people around her who were just trying to help. _Multiple times!_ She felt absolutely horrible about how she had treated Melody, Elsa, Maui and even Tracy. A small part of her believed that if she hadn't been so unkind to the octopid, maybe she wouldn't have snapped and betrayed the team, and they wouldn't have lost the battle and ended up shipwrecked on a strange land with no way of getting back.

As she lowered her head to let the tears fall off her face, her watery eyes fell on the family necklace that hung around her neck. Moana lifted the necklace gently and looked at it fondly. After her father had been impaled by Kane, with the few words he could manage he had asked her to carry on the family legacy. _But how? She couldn't even get the white magic to work in her favour._ She had failed to stop the Major multiple times. _Dad would be so ashamed. _She sobbed more violently as she dropped the necklace and slumped limply against the tree. "I'm sorry, Dad." Moana whispered through the lump in her throat and buried her face in her hands as she continued weeping in the darkness of the forest.

###

Elsa looked at Melody standing silently by the coast, watching and listening to the crashing of the waves. _She had to convince Melody that there was still a way out. Although sketchy, she had a vague plan, but it wasn't going to work without the rest to back her play._ Taking a deep breath, she walked across the sand on the beach towards her downcast friend. "Melody."

Melody continued to watch the waves as if she did not hear Elsa.

Elsa reached the edge of the coast where Melody was. "I know things seem bleak right now, but I know that we can bounce back."

Melody bent down to pick up a smooth stone.

"You always see the best in everyone and everything. That undying hope. Don't give it up now, we can figure out a way to get off this island and stop Kane."

"Well maybe seeing the best in everyone was a mistake."

"What are you talking about?"

"Tracy," Melody aimed the stone at the water and threw it. The stone skidded across the water before sinking below the surface. "Moana was right. I chose to believe that Tracy was different from the rest of her family. I was blinded to the fact that being a witch was in her nature." She picked up another stone and threw it with a little more force. "I messed up six years ago by falling prey to her mother's schemes, and I only wanted to redeem myself. So when I found Tracy in the Dark Zone in the Bermuda Triangle, I saw her as a stepping stone to my own redemption, choosing to ignore the constant red flags. Moana saw through Tracy and warned me, but I chose not to believe her. And look where we are now? We're stuck here because I ignored the truth." Melody's voice wavered a little.

"It's not your fault. It was all Kane. He tempted her with black magic, that's on him. Tracy's just a confused girl, just like I was when you approached me back on the North Mountain."

Melody sniffled and looked out into the ocean. "Doesn't change the fact that I was just choosing to see what I wanted to see. Naive. Selfish. Just so that I could redeem myself in my own eyes."

"No," Elsa had a regal tone that was firm but comforting. "I believe that you truly wanted to help Tracy become a better person, to help her find redemption for herself. Because you did that for me."

Melody walked back to her rock by the bonfire, and Elsa followed her, determined to get through to her friend.

"When I believed that my powers were a curse and that I was a monster, you inspired me to find a way to use my powers for good."

"Maybe you turned out fine, but Tracy was my fault. And it led to our downfall."

"You can't keep blaming yourself for everything that's gone wrong in your life. The incident six years ago, Tracy's betrayal, Atlantica's invasion, the loss of the trident, you couldn't have done anything to prevent those!"

"But maybe I could have."

"You _couldn't have_. We can't stop bad things from happening. But we can keep fighting, just like you taught me. Forgive ourselves and move on. Find a way to redeem ourselves." Elsa said. "And we have a _real_ chance here."

Melody paused for a couple of minutes to ponder about what Elsa had said. Elsa held her breath, hoping that her words had been enough to knock some sense into her friend.

Finally, Melody looked at Elsa. "How?"

"I have an idea. It's a little sketchy, but it might just work. But first, we have to find Moana."

###

Moana's eyes were closed, but she was still wide awake. She was exhausted from crying, but she couldn't possibly fall asleep as she was too consumed by guilt and grief. Suddenly, she heard the rustling of leaves and the breaking of twigs on the ground._ Someone was near! _Moana quickly wiped her tear-stained cheeks with the back of her hands. She didn't want anyone to know that she was crying, no matter who it was.

_Could it be natives living on the island? Or what if it was some wild animal stalking the forest looking for prey?_ She hadn't considered that there could be predators roaming the night, and the sudden thought gave her a sudden urge to flee from the forest. Moana bent down and picked up a fallen branch, brandishing it in front of her. The sound of the leaves rustling and the scrunching of soil was growing louder. "Who's there?" Moana called out, half expecting a tiger to spring out of the darkness at her. "Show yourself!"

"Moana! It's us!" Elsa and Melody came into view.

Moana heaved a sigh of relief and dropped the branch. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to find you," Elsa replied. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark and she could see that Moana's eyes were puffy from crying. "I know things haven't been great these past few days, but I have an idea. But for it to work, we need you."

Moana looked sorrowful. "No, you don't need me. I'm no good to anyone. I couldn't even fulfil my father's dying wish to master the use of light magic."

"Listen to me," Elsa said firmly in a tone that commanded the highest respect for that of a queen. "We've all failed on this mission in some way or other, but we can't stop to feel sorry for ourselves now. Not when we still have an actual shot at getting off this island and stopping Kane."

"How?"

"Follow me," Elsa started to walk back towards the direction of the beach.

"Actually," Melody interrupted. "Can we have a minute? We'll meet you out front."

"Of course." Elsa said, giving her friend a reassuring look before disappearing into the thick darkness again.

Melody turned to face Moana, who was too embarrassed to make eye contact. She hadn't actually planned to confront Moana, but deep down she wanted to bury the hatchet between them and had just decided to talk to her on impulse. "So…" she ran a hand through her hair while trying to piece together what she wanted to say to Moana.

"I'm sorry, Melody." Moana cut in before Melody could get another word in.

Melody was shocked. She hadn't expected an apology from Moana as she had always appeared tough and unapologetic about everything.

"I'm sorry for everything that has happened between us." Moana continued, still avoiding eye contact with Melody. "I've been a jerk to everyone since you all came to Motunui to find me, and I've had some time to think about what I said and did, and I'm truly sorry."

"Actually," Melody started, after an awkward moment of silence between them. "I wanted to apologise too. About Tracy."

Moana looked at Melody, who swallowed hard.

"You were right about her. She was a sea witch at heart, and was always going to revert to her old nature at some point. You saw right through her." Melody looked past Moana at a tree behind her, down at her boots, anywhere but Moana's eyes. "You tried to warn me that we couldn't trust her. And you were right. But I didn't listen." She swallowed hard again. "I didn't want to listen because I wanted to play a part in Tracy's redemption, in the hope that I would redeem myself too, and so I refused to believe that she would turn against us."

Moana listened intently, realising for the first time why Melody had said and done the things that she did.

"In the end, I realised that even I couldn't trust her anymore and when she only had me left, I had no choice but to admit to her the truth, and that broke her. I'm to blame for her betrayal." Melody paused to swallow the lump in her throat before continuing. "And because of that, now Kane has the trident and all of humanity is in danger."

"I…" Moana was dumbfounded, and didn't know how to find the words to respond. "I didn't know you felt that way. That you sided with Tracy because you wanted to help her become a better person. I'm sorry, I always thought you were just plain naive."

"I am. I see that now." Melody replied.

"No, don't stop seeing the best in people. Truth is, I hated that you were always so bright and cheerful and optimistic, because that's the way I used to be before Kane destroyed my village. And to see you like that, it just ticked me off."

"I should've been more sensitive," Melody finally looked Moana in the eye. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I'm sorry too." Moana continued. "I masked my guilt for not being able to save my village by taking my anger out on anyone around me. You guys didn't deserve that."

"Alright," Melody gave a small apologetic smile and extended a hand to Moana. "Bury the hatchet?"

"Yeah." Moana reached out and hugged Melody, who was taken by surprise.

"Now how about we stop beating ourselves up over our mistakes and go listen to Elsa's plan for getting off the island?" Melody said after recovering from the initial surprise of Moana's hug.

"Yeah, let's go."

The two girls walked out of the forest down to the beach where Elsa was waiting for them with her back to the crashing waves, her undone hair being blown about in every direction by the humid breeze.

"Okay, so-" Elsa began, and was stunned when Moana hugged her.

"I'm sorry for being so hostile. Please forgive me?"

"Of course," Elsa patted Moana on the back. "Consider it done."

"So," Moana released her hold on Elsa and stepped back. "What's the plan?"

"Well, it's more like a hunch actually," Elsa began, pushing her platinum blonde hair out of her face and sweeping it over her shoulder. "But I think we have a pretty good chance of getting off the island."

"How?" Melody asked.

"You know how controlling my powers has always been a struggle for me?" Elsa looked around at her audience, and the other two girls nodded. "Well I discovered that when I keep my emotions in check and focus on the positive feelings, I have a better grip over my powers."

"Oh, so with her white magic, she can restore the ship and get us out of here!" Melody put two and two together, realising that Elsa was right.

"That's the plan," Elsa nodded, placing her hands behind her back humbly. "Not that I'm anywhere near fully mastering my powers, but I think I could guide you in learning how to control your magic."

"Oh, and I remember something," Melody suddenly remembered the book she had read in the palace before the war started. "Back in Atlantica, I learnt about the Major's snake totem. The more he uses it, the more he develops a bloodlust and he gets more powerful. The only way to counter his growing power is with white magic. Yours." She pointed at Moana's pendant.

"Mine?"

"You are the key to stopping him, Moana." Elsa and Melody looked at Moana hopefully, waiting for her response.

"Show me how."

"Okay," Elsa exhaled and rubbed her palms together. _That went way better than she had planned._ She tied her hair back into a ponytail, and Moana tied hers into a bun. "Let's begin."

###

A cold gust of wind blew across the deck, and Major Kane could feel it stinging his skin as he gazed out at the night sky. _The Hanedale must be getting closer to the North Pole._ He had used the trident to manipulate the waters into propelling the ship quicker towards his destination. Otherwise, it would take forever for them to reach the North Pole where he would complete his quest. _It was almost over, and he could see victory within his reach. _He had always known that his quest would be a one way trip for him, but he didn't care. He would have saved the world from the corruption of humanity, and be reunited with his family once again. _Speaking of which, it was time to use the second wish. _

Trident still in hand, Kane headed down to his personal quarters. He closed the door and leaned the trident against the wall. Taking the Lamp of Jafar which was resting on his tabletop, he sat on the ground crosslegged and rubbed the Lamp slowly. A black mist escaped from the spout, and rose into the air, forming the image of Jafar.

"What do you seek, my Master?" Jafar asked, bowing before the Major.

"Jafar," Kane spoke. "It is time for me to use my second wish."

"Yes, of course. What is it you desire?"

Kane took a deep breath. "I want to see my family."

"You know the rules. I can't bring them back to life."

"I'm not asking you to."

"Then what are you asking?"

"Astral projection." Kane replied stoically. "I know that it can be done, but it's out of my wheelhouse. I want you to take me to my family."

Jafar paused. "You do realise that astral projection requires strength of mind and an incredible force of will? Otherwise, your mind will crumble."

"I know."

"Very well then. Shut your eyes."

The Major closed his eyes, and Jafar muttered in a foreign language, conjuring up a dark spell and a thick darkness enveloped the room. When Kane opened his eyes, he found himself in the middle of a forest covered in cold fog. The leaves had fallen from the tree to the ground and were covered by snow, and all that remained were the thorns and thistles of the branches.

"Here we are." Jafar's whispers echoed eerily throughout the forest and Major Kane spun around.

_There was no one else in the forest but himself._ Kane narrowed his eyes, and pushed past the branches of the trees, his skin getting scratched by the thorns as he bashed through the dried up vegetation. The snow grew thicker and squelched under his boots as he finally made his way out of the forest. As he emerged from the multitude of thorns, he stood on a hill above his home village where he used to live with his wife and children. The roofs of the houses were covered in snow, and the roads leading through the village were rocky and uneven. The village itself was quiet, as if it were abandoned, and a couple of armoured soldiers patrolled the streets with flaming torches, looking for houses to raid. The winter breeze blew heavily against Kane's back, pushing him forward as he made his way down the steep hill carefully.

Kane walked through the village, musing at how it felt to be back home where life for him was normal before it got plunged into chaos. He wondered how different his life would have turned out if he hadn't been on that naval mission five years ago. _Maybe his family wouldn't have been murdered and his village wouldn't have been razed to the ground._ As he walked along the street towards his old cottage, a couple of armoured enemies in masks blocked his path. He clenched his fist, and the snake totem glowed red. With a swipe of his hand, the enemies were tossed off the path like they were rag dolls, and they were impaled on the large thorns that hung from the tree branches. Their blood dripped onto the fresh powder of snow on the ground, turning white to red.

Kane walked up to the front door of his old house, and opened it. The wooden door creaked as he stepped into his house, and he was instantly greeted by the warmth of the fireplace that burnt brightly in the corner. As his custom was, he dried his boots on the carpet by the door. Kane looked around at the interior of his house. _Everything was exactly how he remembered it. _

"You're back."

Kane spun around to see his wife sitting by the fireplace, watching him. "Honey?" His voice was thick with emotion and his eyes which were usually hardened by resolve softened at the sight of his beloved wife. "Is it really you?"

She smiled lovingly at Kane as he walked towards her.

"Where are the kids?"

"I tucked them in early," She replied as Kane stopped before her. "No point having them stay awake what with all this pillaging and violence going on in our village."

Kane fell before her on his knees. "I've really missed you."

She looked at him and stroked his head gently like he was a child as he buried his face into her lap. "I've missed you too, Kane," she caressed his cheek. "Things haven't been easy with the soldiers out roaming our village. The kids keep asking why we need to stay indoors all day. I wish you had been here, you've always had a way of explaining things to them."

With tear stained eyes, Kane looked up at his wife.

"Are you leaving again?"

Kane's heart melted within him. Those were some of her last words to him before he had left for the naval mission five years ago. He stared up at her in dismay, a lump in his throat.

"Please stay. Our children never know when they're ever going to see their father again."

Kane broke down, sobbing uncontrollably on the wooden floor before his wife. "I'm sorry. It's just that…you seem so real."

"No, not really," she replied. "After all, I'm just a memory of your wife locked away deep in your subconscious, and this is all part of your own guilt manifesting itself before your eyes. But don't worry, it'll all be over soon." She wrapped her arms around Kane and hugged him tightly. "And we will be together again. With the children."

Kane embraced his wife and closed his eyes, never wanting to let her go again. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you and the kids."

"But you can save millions more. Go, my love." She smiled at Kane confidently "Redeem yourself, end this once and for all, and come back to us."

Opening his eyes, Kane found himself alone back in his quarters on the ship. He remained silent for what seemed like eternity, processing all that he had just experienced. Then, from above, there was a loud thud, as if something heavy had landed on the deck. _Maui the demigod must have returned with the heart of Te Fiti._ Kane stood to his feet, resolve written all across his face. Picking up the Lamp, he walked out of his quarters and climbed up to the deck.

Writer's Commentary:

Wow. This is by far the longest and darkest chapter that I've written. And that's saying a lot. I just hope I didn't overdo it with the whole black and sombre feel for the chapter. Our heroines and villain actually harbour quite a few depressive thoughts and painful memories which contribute to their character arcs.

Melody goes through quite a bit of guilt, and for the first time, we see her having lost her joy and hope, and she doesn't have a plan. Meanwhile, Moana hides out in the forest by herself, finally able to express her emotions in private.

However, surprisingly, Elsa is the one who anchors the team and brings things back together. This is where I hope her character arc shines through. When we first found her up on the North Mountain, she was depressed and had no idea what to do with her powers which seemed like a curse. But now, she's discovered how she can use her powers for good, and believes that it isn't over yet, devising a plan to get off the island, but she's going to need Moana and Melody to work with her.

Melody and Moana also go through a cathartic moment where they put aside their differences, having understood each other. Together with Elsa, they actually have a chance to get back in the game before it is too late.

And the second part of the chapter where we see things from Kane's perspective is honestly the most heartfelt and emotional piece that I've ever penned thus far. I hope I succeeded in making you feel for him. Even though Kane's a monster, deep down, we know he's still a man, capable of emotions and affection.

Anyway, get ready for the next chapter, which shall be like a fresh start for our heroines. Let's see how they manage to get off the island!


	20. Chapter 20: A New Hope, The Promise

Chapter Twenty

A New Hope / The Promise

Major Kane found his mercenaries and Tracy waiting for him, as well as Maui on the far side of the deck, still in the form of a brown hawk. A green emerald was wedged in between his beak. _Ah, finally, the heart of Te Fiti. _

Suddenly, the sound of a volcano erupting echoed through the air, and the waves grew choppier, causing the ship to be rocked back and forth as it travelled through the water.

"What's going on?" Tracy asked, holding on to a large crate to stop herself from losing her balance and toppling overboard.

"The end is near," Kane looked around at his surroundings. _His predictions were correct. Now that the heart of Te Fiti had been removed from the goddess, the world was starting to crumble with disasters of all kinds. Good, this meant that he was one step closer to completing his quest. Then he could finally rest, and be reunited with his family. _

"Bring it to me," Kane stretched forth his left hand, and the snake totem glowed red.

Maui's sharp clawed feet scraped across the ground as he obeyed the command, and in a flash of light, he shape-shifted back into his natural form of a man, and continued walking towards the Major, with the fish hook in one hand, and the heart of Te Fiti in the other. Another volcano eruption could be heard in the far distance. As he approached Kane, he slowed down and stopped in front of him.

The Major opened his palm and Maui struggled to regain control of his actions, his arm trembling as he attempted to defy the Major's command. His eyes twitched and colour began to return to them, as his brows furrowed in concentration.

"I said," Kane clenched his left fist and the snake totem glowed red as he landed a left hook on Maui's jaw. "Give me the heart."

Like before, the colour faded from Maui's eyes as they became glazed over again, and his body stopped twitching as he lost complete control over his actions. His face devoid of emotion, the demigod extended his hand and placed the heart of Te Fiti in the palm of the Major.

"Excellent." Kane gazed at the heart of Te Fiti in awe. _Who would have guessed that a simple green stone was actually an ancient powerful heart that contained the power of creation? Or destruction, in his case. _"With the heart of Te Fiti in our possession," Kane lifted up the heart for all his mercenaries and Tracy to see. "This world will crumble. And humanity shall be purified."

Among the mercenaries standing on the deck was the Major's right hand man, Santos. Witnessing all that was happening, he knew that there wasn't much time left. He had to make things right, at least for himself. Seeing as the Major was too busy admiring the small mystical emerald, Santos snuck away quietly, but unbeknownst to him, Kane noticed him leaving from the corner of his eye.

Santos walked down the stairs past the living quarters to the bilge of the ship where he was absolutely sure that no one would hear him. He looked around at the dark and cold bilge. This was where the Major had imprisoned all the merfolk that he used in the attack against Atlantica. The rusty cages were enough evidence to remind Santos that the good man that he had once known in the military was now gone, consumed by hatred and insanity. All that remained was a terrorist, no better than the people who had destroyed their village and slaughtered their families. He had been a part of this madness long enough, but now it was time to redeem himself in his own eyes, before it was too late to turn back. Reaching into one of the pockets of his military vest, he fished out the mobile device that he had used to contact the girl he had met back in Agrabah. He looked at it for a few seconds before turning it on, a look of resolve on his face.

###

"Again!"

Elsa threw another volley of ice at Moana, who neutralized the attack with a ray of light. Two arrows with flat arrowheads were released from the nocking point and they flew towards Moana. She spun round quickly, and with a swipe of her hand, conjured up white magic that changed the course of the arrows, and they landed in the sand.

The three girls stood on the beach, the bonfire still burning nearby as they practiced helping Moana control her white magic.

"Again?" Moana asked.

"Hang on," Melody bent over, leaning her hands against her thighs. "Not all of us here have superhuman endurance, you know."

"I think-" Elsa chimed in, wiping the perspiration from her face. "-I think you've got a pretty decent handle on your white magic."

"Feels like we've been training for hours." Melody continued. "Not that I'm complaining, but maybe it's time for you to try using your white magic to fix our ship. We are somewhat in a rush after all."

Elsa looked at Moana confidently. "I think you're ready."

"Thanks," Moana undid her bun and shook her head, letting her hair fall onto her back. "I guess we'll find out."

The girls walked across the beach to where their damaged ship was. It was slanted to one side and half sunken into the sand, looking like a sorry wreck that had seen much better days.

"Okay," Moana took a deep breath.

"You got this." Melody said encouragingly, placing a hand on Moana's shoulder.

"Just remember, focus on the light inside you and what you want to see happen, and let the magic do the rest." Elsa reminded her "protégé", anxious to see if her plan would actually work. _She herself hadn't gained full control over her powers, and yet she had attempted to teach Moana to harness hers. What if it didn't work? _

Moana exhaled and looked at her hands. _She could do this. She had to. After all, everyone was counting on her to get them back in the game. No pressure there._ Closing her eyes tightly, she tensed her hands, pointing them in the direction of the ship. Then, her hands relaxed and the crease on her brow faded away as she began to breathe calmly.

Melody and Elsa watched from a distance with bated breath, hoping that the short but intense coaching had been enough to help Moana gain control over her white magic. Sure, they had faith that Moana could pull it off, but in the event that it didn't work out, then they would be back to square one: stuck on the island with no chance of stopping the Major.

The necklace around Moana's neck started glowing yellow, and smooth streams of yellow energy flowed from Moana's hands and through the air.

"It's working!" Melody whispered excitedly to Elsa, who was equally elated. The two girls watched as the white magic worked its way towards the ship slowly. As the yellow streams of light reached the ship, they began to weave in and out, circling the wreckage like a family of snakes. The energy appeared to multiply itself, and continued to cover the ship, and slowly, the white magic engulfed the ship completely in a blinding aura of pure yellow light.

The two spectators shielded their eyes from the now glowing ship, and slowly the light began to fade. The yellow streams of light slowly dissipated into the atmosphere, revealing a ship that was in perfect condition. Melody and Elsa stared at the ship, and then at each other, speechless at what they had just witnessed.

Moana opened her eyes slowly to see the repaired ship. "It-it worked." Moana gasped, covering her mouth in awe. "It actually worked!" she exclaimed a little louder when she realized what she had done. "I didn't think it was possible!"

"It's like a brand new ship!" Melody walked towards the ship and touched the hull. Even the paint job looked great!

"You did it! Now we can get off this island, all thanks to you!" Elsa beamed at Moana, relieved that her sketchy plan had actually worked. _It was a miracle!_

"Wouldn't have been able to do it without your help," Moana grinned at Elsa. "You too, Melody." She glanced at Melody, who smiled back.

"Kane has a pretty big lead on us," Melody said as she leapt and grabbed onto the edge of the deck. "We should get going. But where to?" She pulled herself onto the deck, and threw down a rope for Moana to climb.

Elsa used her own ice powers to lift her off the sand and up to the deck. "Well, there's just one problem with my plan."

"We don't know where he went." Moana said, climbing onto the deck.

"Yeah…"

"Any ideas?" Melody asked.

The three girls stood in silence, staring at the floor, the ocean, the sky, all trying to think of a plan. Then suddenly, Elsa left the group and started to walk around the deck, looking for something.

"What are you doing?"

"Wait, hang on, I know it has to be here somewhere," Elsa frowned. She looked around a couple more times before walking down the stairs to her quarters, and Melody and Moana followed her.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Melody asked, gazing around at Elsa's room. _Wow. It was so neat and immaculate, prim and proper just like her. _

"It's uh…" Elsa mumbled as she looked around her room, not even registering Melody's question as she was fully focused on finding what she was looking for.

Moana looked over at Elsa's tidy desk. There was something foreign looking on it. She reached out and lifted up a small stone. "Some kind of mystical object?"

"Yes! That's it!" Elsa cried, darting over to Moana and practically snatching the stone out of her hands.

"Wait, I don't understand," Melody was puzzled. Why was Elsa so excited about a stone?

"I met one of Major Kane's mercenaries back in Agrabah, but he was different. He wants to help us stop Kane's quest, so he gave me this so that he could contact me from a distance." Elsa explained excitedly. "He told me about Kane's plan to invade Atlantica, and gave us an opening for us to ambush him back on his ship."

"Hold on. I'm confused," Moana put her hands on her hips. "So when you told us you had a strong hunch that Kane had left his ship, you actually had legitimate intel from one of his mercenaries?"

"And he talked to you through a rock?"

"Yes, I'm sorry about that," Elsa answered sheepishly. "I didn't know what you would have done if you knew I had been in contact with a mercenary on the inside."

"So why tell us now?" Melody asked.

"We don't really have any other option. This is our best bet." Elsa held up the stone.

"Can we really trust this guy? I mean, what if he's been playing us to gain our trust and set a trap?" Moana folded her arms.

"I believe him. He told me back in Agrabah that he got in too deep with the Major before realising that it was too late, and now he's trying to help us stop millions from being killed."

Elsa was confident that Santos was sincere. After all, he had given them solid intelligence once already, and he had let her go without harming her back in Agrabah. If he was really on the Major's side, he would have killed her for sure._ But then, what if Moana's right? What if Santos is just playing the long endgame to gain my trust? What if…this is all part of the Major's plan? _

"Are you sure?"

"I…I don't know," Elsa looked at Moana, and then at Melody. "What do you think?"

"I think we don't have any other choice," There was a certain measure of confidence in Melody's voice which brought some relief to Elsa and Moana. "We either accept his help, or we're back to square one, with no clue where the Major is headed. It's a risk we're going to have to take. Make the call."

Elsa nodded and looked at the stone in her hands. The stone was grey, and parts of it had been chipped off. It had probably been damaged when Kane conjured up the tornado to send their ship far away from him. She hoped that it would still work. Her finger hovered over the stone, unsure of how it worked and pondering whether she was making the right decision to call Santos.

Just then, as if by total coincidence, the stone began to grew hot. This time, she was quick enough to drop the stone on her desk as it began to display an array of colours. Elsa looked at Moana and Melody, before tapping the stone.

"Hello? Elsa, anyone?" Santos' voice rang out urgently from the stone, faint but clear enough for all three girls to hear.

"Santos?"

"You survived!" Elsa could hear relief in Santos' voice. "Are you all alright?"

"Not exactly, one of our teammates betrayed us, another was hypnotized by the Major and we were shipwrecked on an island, and now we don't even know where we are."

"The Mozambique Channel." Santos replied.

"What?"

"He sent you to Africa, the farthest place from where we're going."

"Which is?"

"The North Pole. Our ship is headed there now, and your demigod retrieved some mystical green stone for him."

"The heart of Te Fiti!" Moana exclaimed. "Kane hypnotized Maui to retrieve the heart. With the heart stolen, the world will be destroyed by earthquakes and other disasters!"

"We're already beginning to feel the effects here on this side of the world," Santos said. "You have to hurry, we don't have much time left."

"We will." Elsa assured him. "Thank you for helping us."

"It's the least I can do after everything that has happened. Come quickly." Santos finished in a haste and hung up.

The stone's colours dimmed and faded as the call was ended, and Elsa's room fell into silence.

Melody walked out of the room, beckoning for the other two girls to follow. "Come on, we have to go!"

"But you heard Santos, Major Kane sent us to the Mozambique Channel!" Elsa said as she and Moana walked up the stairs to the deck, closely behind Melody. "We're in Africa, and the Major is already nearing the North Pole. How are we going to get there in time!"

"I think I know a way," Moana chimed in as the girls reached the deck of the ship. "With my influence over the water and white magic, I can conjure up the waves to propel us towards the North Pole, and try to speed us along using white magic. I don't exactly know how, but it's worth a shot."

"Let's do it." Melody nodded, and so did Elsa.

"Alright." Moana walked to the edge of the deck and took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and brought her breathing to a constant rate. Then, she lifted her hands with her palms facing upwards, and water rose and moved inwards to the coast where the ship was lying on the sand. The water surrounded the ship from all sides, and lifted it above the sand, carrying it into the ocean.

As the ship splashed into the ocean once more, the water behind the ship rose again into a small but strong tidal wave, pushing the craft through the ocean rapidly. Moana kept her eyes closed, and unlike before when she would tense herself and her eyebrows would furrow in intense concentration, she let herself relax and kept a calm demeanour. Her family necklace shone, and yellow streams of energy appeared in the waves that pushed the ship, causing the height of the water to increase. The waves glowed brightly and the ship was propelled even faster than before, speeding across the ocean towards the North Pole.

###

Upon finishing his call to Elsa, Santos quickly stuffed the stone back into one of the pockets of his military vest, and turned to walk back to the stairs leading out of the bilge. Turning around, he spotted the silhouette of a tall and burly man standing on the halfway mark of the stairs. Santos froze, fearing the worst, and after a few moments, he finally mustered up the courage to take a few steps forward. "Sir?"

The figure stood silently on the stairs, watching Santos as he approached the stairs.

"Sir, is that you?" Santos asked again, trying to sound confident to hide the fear in his voice.

The figure slowly walked down the stairs, and Santos saw that it was the Major. Each time Kane's boot made contact with the rusty steel steps, Santos could feel his heart skip a beat. Kane stepped down into the partially submerged bilge, and Santos took a step back. "What are you doing down here, Sir?"

"I could ask the same about you." Kane's voice had a tone of danger, but yet at the same time cool as ice. "You know, it's funny,"

Santos braced himself, knowing that his secret was out.

"I was thinking to myself, back in the waters of Denmark, how did Moana and her friends know when I was going to leave the ship to invade Atlantica? Their attack on us seemed coordinated, although a failure. Was it just a terrible coincidence that they boarded our ship at the right time, or did they somehow know of my plans?" Kane inched closer to Santos, who stood his ground.

"Sir," he chuckled nervously, trying to feign confidence. "I think maybe you're a little unnerved after everything that has happened."

"I don't get unnerved."

"Honestly Sir, you're overthinking. You're so close to the end, you don't need to worry about a couple of teenagers." Santos attempted to reassure the Major.

Kane continued to stare at Santos, his gaze unrelenting.

"They've already tried to stop you. Twice. And you put them in their place!" Santos continued, trying to bootlick the Major and fuel his ego. "They're not even a threat to your plan."

"Yes, they're not."

_Maybe he had a chance to talk his way out of this._

"But you are."

A chill went down Santos' spine. "Me?"

"You disappoint me, Santos." Kane's voice was filled with genuine hurt and sorrow. "I used to think that you believed in my crusade. We've known each other since before my quest, and you've always stuck by my side. I even made you my right hand man after we commandeered the Hanedale, trusted you with my battle plans and to carry out my mission together, and this is how you thank me?"

"Thank _you_?" Santos knew that there was no turning back now. _Kane knew everything._ "five years ago, you made me a promise that we would return to see our loved ones again. Remember that? Instead, after you slaughtered our enemies, you dragged me on your quest to build an army of mercenaries and 'save humanity'. The only reason I stayed with you is because I cared about you. You were hurting. We all were! But you buried yourself into your quest instead of taking the time to grieve the loss of your family and our fallen comrades."

Major Kane narrowed his eyes at the mention of his family and his failure to prevent the deaths of his own men.

"I stayed with you to keep you sane, but now I realize it's too late." Santos spit out harshly. "You think of yourself as a saviour, a pilgrim on a mission to save the world? The truth is, you've become nothing more than a ruthless eco-terrorist who has lost his sanity because he became obsessed with black magic. You're no better than the people who destroyed our village."

Santos paused to take a breath, staring boldly at the Major. "But me? I've done enough wrong in your name. Enough is enough. I don't want to die an evil man."

There was a long and eerie silence, and the sound of water dripping echoed throughout the bilge. The two men stood in the dark, staring at each other, both unrelenting.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Kane broke the silence, his face a complete blank, and his emotions unreadable. Then, he clenched his fist, and the snake totem glowed red in the darkness of the bilge.

Santos gasped for air, his throat tightening. His knees grew weak and he collapsed into the water that sloshed about on the ground. Fumbling at his throat, his frantic actions gradually began to slow. In a moment of realisation, he relaxed and stopped struggling, resting his head on the ground. Half submerged in water, a haunting yet calm smile appeared on his face. "Thank you… for keeping your promise…" Santos whispered, and breathed his last.

With no trace of remorse, Major Kane looked at the lifeless body that was half submerged in water with disdain, and turned to climb back up the stairs leading out of the bilge.


	21. Chapter 21: The Last Stand

Chapter Twenty One

The Last Stand

"I think we're here." Moana said as the ship started to slow down. The sun was starting to peer through the cold morning sky, and a faint orange light spread across the horizon.

"How do you know this is the right place?" Elsa asked. She had already tied her hair back into her trademark french braid, and had conjured up a new light blue outfit that was more suitable for the winter battle ahead. Her white sneakers had also been replaced by light blue snow boots which would give her more friction on the icy terrain that they were about to traverse.

"My magic," Moana touched her necklace and it glowed yellow. "I think it's attracted to the Major's. Like opposites attract. It's leading us to where he is right now."

"It's just like I read in the book in Atlantica. I told you, your white magic is the key to stopping the Major." Melody said.

"Let's hope that it is enough."

"It will be," Elsa looked at Moana and gave her a reassuring nod. "You got this."

"Let's get ready to move," Melody looked out at the shore that they were approaching, and pulled the thick green winter jacket Elsa's sister Anna had given her to cover her neck. It was really cold, but fortunately her human-mermaid hybrid biology helped her to adapt to various climates quickly. _Soon, the cold wouldn't affect her, just like Elsa._ Everything was iced over, and small blocks of ice that were chipped off floated in the water. The ship came to a stop, and Melody grabbed her bow and quiver.

She mounted the quiver on her back and carried the bow as she dismounted. As she climbed down from the ship and stepped down onto the ice, it cracked and sounded like it was going to give way. Cautiously, she placed her other foot away from the cracked surface, and inched away from the shoreline which was more unstable. Melody could immediately feel the lack of friction underneath her feet.

"Need some help?" Elsa watched from the ship as Melody tried to keep her balance on the ice below.

"Yeah."

"Alright, hang on. Don't move." Elsa lifted her hand gently, swirling it in a clockwise motion.

Ice droplets surrounded Melody's black boots, and to her amazement, she found her boots magically replaced with sturdy winter boots. "How?" she was stumped and pleasantly surprised.

"I don't know, it's just something that I can do with my powers." Elsa shrugged, and did the same for Moana. "I did it once for my sister when we were ice skating." She then used her powers to create a slope of ice from the beam of the ship down to the ground. She and Moana slid down gracefully and joined Melody on the ice.

"Thanks." Melody looked down, admiring her new snow boots.

"Oh, and I almost forgot." Elsa lifted her hand and swirled it again slowly, and this time, the thick green winter jacket that Anna had given Melody disappeared and was replaced by a black down jacket. Again, she also did the same for Moana, who was equally amazed and grateful.

"Wow," Melody admired her new jacket, and then mimicked the action of pulling an arrow from her quiver that was on her back. "It's so light and gives me more flexibility and range of motion!"

"That was the point," Elsa said. "You're going to need to be extra mobile when fighting the Major."

"Thanks Elsa." Moana held her spear in one hand and felt the material of her new jacket with the other.

A quake hit the ice that they were on, and the trio struggled to maintain their balance as the ice began to crack violently beneath their feet. Elsa quickly used her powers in an attempt to repair the cracks in the ground, filling up the cracks with ice to hold the ground together. The earth was _really_ starting to crumble now that the heart of Te Fiti had been removed. Finally, the quake subsided and the ground stopped shaking.

"We should get going before it's too late," Melody exhaled in relief, and looked at Moana. "Where to next?"

"Right," Moana touched her necklace and it glowed yellow again, leaving a faint trail of energy for the girls to follow.

The trio followed the magical energy signature across the plain and up a small hill. They stopped and crouched low, hiding behind the snow capped hilltop. By this time, the sun had already risen and there was enough light for the girls to see their surroundings clearly. They peered out from behind the tall hilltop, surveying the vast landscape that stretched out before them. The entire terrain was covered in white, which was visually calming and pleasing to the eye. It would be nice to stop and gaze at if they weren't in the middle of trying to save the world, but instead they decided that the terrain was better to spot their enemies since the landscape was completely whited out.

"There," Melody pointed across the plain. The Major's mercenaries were stationed at the foot of a tall mountain, keeping watch for any signs of trouble.

"I don't see Kane though." Moana squinted as she scanned for the Major.

"He's probably hiding up there," Elsa pointed at the mountain that the mercenaries were standing in front of. Above them, there was a cave in the side of the mountain. "He said he was going to melt the ice caps, and he would have a good vantage point from that cave."

"How are we going to get to him?" Moana looked at the tall mountain and the huge plain of ice that lay before them. "There's a huge plain between us and the Major. We're never going to get across without being spotted."

"The odds are kind of stacked against us." Melody glanced back at her friends. "No element of surprise, we're two teammates down, and the Major has the advantage of elevation."

"What do you suggest?" Elsa asked.

"We don't really have any other choice. We've already come this far." Melody replied. "I say if we go down, we go down fighting. We have to at least try."

"It's not like I have anything else to lose," Moana shrugged.

"Let's do it. Even if there's a slim chance that we can walk away victorious, no matter how small, we have to take it. Our kingdoms are counting on us."

"_The world_ is counting on us." Elsa added.

"So what's the play?"

"You and I are going to get up to the mountain cave, then you can neutralise Kane's black magic and I'll take him down." Melody explained her plan, hoping that it made sense. _It sounded better in her head, and it was going to be way harder to pull off than it sounded._

"I'll stay on the ground to fight off the mercenaries and stop the ice caps from melting." Elsa added. "My powers should be enough to undo Kane's destruction." _All her life, she had wondered why she had been cursed with ice powers. Maybe this was the reason she had been given powers, to serve a greater purpose than herself: to save her kingdom, and to save the world. _

"Sounds like a plan." Moana clutched her spear tightly, ready to descend down the hill that they were hiding on.

"Wait," Melody grabbed Moana's forearm, stopping her. "We're forgetting about Tracy and Maui. What are we going to do if they show up and attack us?"

Silence reigned for a minute as the three girls realised that they would be out on the battlefield against their former teammates.

"We have to try to get through to them," Moana said boldly. "I mean, we can't just write them off, they're still a part of our team. Deep down, I know that there's some good in Tracy, and we have to appeal to her better instincts." She glanced at Melody.

"I saw Maui trying to fight off the mind control back on the island," Elsa added. "I think that with an extra push, we can help him break free of the Major's influence and get him back on our team."

"Okay then, it's settled," Melody adjusted the limbs of her take-down recurve bow, checking to make sure that she had assembled her weapon securely. "This might be our very last stand, so let's make it count. Let's go."

The three girls got up from their hiding spot and started scaling their way down the hill covered with ice. They walked across the flat terrain in plain sight towards the mercenaries standing in front of the mountain.

"Alert the Major." One of the mercenaries said to another, upon spotting the girls.

"Sir, we have company. You'll want to see this."

Upon hearing about the disturbance, an intrigued Kane walked past his new right hand man and Tracy, who was standing in the icy mountain cave behind him.

Tracy, who had also heard the message, turned to look out at the opening of the cave._ Could it be that her former teammates had survived?_

The Major walked out of the cave, and stood tall on the mountain. He looked down to see the three remaining warriors walking towards his mercenaries confidently without a trace of fear in their eyes. "Huh." He narrowed his eyes.

Melody, Elsa and Moana came to a stop a distance away from the mercenaries, at a spot where it would be easy for Melody to shoot a grappling arrow up to the mountain cave. They looked up at Major Kane who towered over them.

Tracy walked out of the cave and joined the Major at the edge of the mountain. She gaped when she saw her former teammates standing before the mercenaries. _They really did survive!_

"I've got to give it to you, I'm impressed at every turn! You girls have resolve," Kane called out loudly to the trio that stood before him, his deep voice reverberating throughout the vast terrain. "Not that it makes a difference now."

"Did you think sending us to the Mozambique Channel was going to stop us?!" Melody shouted. "We're going to stop you!"

"Santos always did talk too much." Kane mused.

"Where is he? What did you do with him?" Elsa realized that the double agent was nowhere to be found.

"He got what all traitors deserve."

"No…" Elsa's eyes welled up slightly, deeply grieved that Santos had given his life to help them. _At least he redeemed himself before dying_, she comforted herself.

"And so will all of you," the Major continued menacingly. "You've been a thorn in my side for far too long."

Tracy turned and looked at the Major in shock. _He couldn't be serious! He was willing to kill them? To get them out of his way was one thing, but to murder them in cold blood? That was too much! She hadn't signed up for this!_

"We travelled across the world to get here, Kane!" Melody retorted bravely. "You think a little threatening is going to stop us from getting to you?"

"Maybe this will, Princess." Major Kane snapped his fingers, and a huge figure emerged from the cave. Maui stood beside the Major, his eyes still glazed over and the heart of Te Fiti strung around his neck like a medal.

"Maui." Moana narrowed her eyes, gripping her spear a little tighter.

"This changes nothing!" Melody shouted. "We're going to stop you, even if that's the last thing we ever do!"

Major Kane smirked. "As last words go, those weren't bad."

"Tracy!" Melody yelled. "I know that deep down, you know he's wrong! You can't let him do this! Please!"

"Open fire." Kane told his right hand man, expecting him to relay the command to the rest of the troops.

The new right hand man of Kane hesitated, and looked at the Major uneasily.

"But Sir, don't you think-"

Major Kane tightly clenched his left fist and the new right hand man found himself being lifted off the mountain slowly. He grasped at his throat desperately as his face turned blue, his legs flailing madly. Gradually, he stopped struggling and was released from mid-air, landing back on the mountain, his body motionless.

"Anyone else?" Kane bellowed. With a wave of his hand, Kane gave the command for his troops to attack, and turned to walk back into the cave. He heard the sounds of the weapons being cocked and raised, and anticipated the deafening blasts of musket fire. Silence. Kane narrowed his eyes and hurriedly walked back to the edge of the mountain, looking down at his mercenaries who were desperately trying to fire their weapons.

"I said open fire!" Major Kane roared at his mercenaries.

"We can't, Sir!"

"All our weapons aren't working!"

The Major turned and looked at Maui, who was still waiting for a command, oblivious to whatever was happening around him. He turned to Tracy, who was aiming both her hands at the mercenaries below, her brows knit together as she concentrated on manipulating the dark arts. "What are you doing?"

"I can't let you do this." Tracy looked at Kane with conviction. "I can't let you kill my friends." Quickly, she aimed her left hand at the Major, and black magic engulfed him, giving him no time to react at all. She then tossed him into the cave, and used her black magic to levitate herself off the mountain edge.

Tracy landed beside her former teammates and avoided eye contact with them. "I know. I'm an idiot, alright?"

"Welcome back, Tracy." Melody grinned.

"We're sorry," Moana added. "We should have trusted you."

"Yeah whatever. Let's just get this over with and get out of here. It's freezing."

"I think I can help with that." Elsa smiled and lifted a hand.

Droplets of ice materialised from the water in the air around Tracy, and a pink down jacket appeared on her shoulders and she winced. "Ugh. Pink?"

###

Incensed, Major Kane pulled himself out of the rubble from where Tracy had tossed him, and walked swiftly to his bag of belongings. "I'm surrounded by traitors." Kane fumed, pulling out the Lamp of Jafar, and he started to rub the sides of the Lamp furiously. _He had run out of options and this was his last resort._

Jafar the Genie emerged from the spout of the Lamp. "What do you seek, my Master?"

"The last wish," Kane blurted out impatiently. "I want to use it now."

"But Master, you made a promise," Jafar reminded Kane. "You said that you would use your final wish to release me from my endless cycle of slavery so that I could return to exact revenge on Aladdin."

"Things have changed, Jafar!" Kane ignored the genie's plea, desperate to ensure that his quest would be completed at all costs. "I am your Master, and you will obey my command!"

###

"So what's the plan?" Tracy asked, continuing to use her black magic to jam the mercenaries' weapons.

"We fight." Moana replied.

"I mean, yeah, but you guys have gotta have an actual plan right?"

"Okay, you and Elsa stay here on the ground. Elsa's going to stop the ice from melting, and you watch her back." Melody said, and Elsa nodded. "Moana and I are going to get up there," she pointed to the cave where the Major was. "And we're going to take him out."

"Take him out?" Tracy looked at Melody with a skeptical look on her face. "I don't know if you guys noticed, but he's getting stronger! The longer he has that snake totem, the harder it's gonna be to fight him. Alright, just for fun, how are you and village girl gonna stop him?"

"With this." Moana showed Tracy her palm, and a ball of yellow energy lit up in the centre of her palm like fire, perfectly controlled and stable.

"Get out! You got a grip on your magic?"

"Don't sound too surprised." Moana tried to hide the fact that she was slightly offended by Tracy's underestimation of her.

"Guys?" Elsa pointed to the cave, drawing everyone's attention back to the Major who emerged from the cave with the trident in his right hand, and the snake totem on his left. He stood beside Maui, who was still waiting for a command. The genie followed at Kane's side reluctantly, unable to do anything but comply with his master's wishes.

"You disappoint me, witch!" Kane bellowed. "But you running back to your friends doesn't change anything. Even together, you can't stop what's about to happen!" Another earthquake broke out, shaking the earth and cracking the ice that the warriors and mercenaries were standing on, and the sound of another volcano erupting could be heard in the far distance. "And you can't stop what's already happening!" He turned to Jafar and nodded. "Do it."

Jafar sighed and reluctantly raised his right hand.

The ground started to shake again, and cold mist materialised from thin air, shielding the mountain and the mercenaries from sight. After a few moments, the mist dissipated to reveal magical ice monsters towering over the mercenaries and the five girls. The ice monsters had blue complexion, with spikes of ice protruding from their enormous frames. There were holes where their eyes should have been, and with each breath that they took, strong gusts of cold air were released from their mouths, blowing the hair of the heroines across their faces.

"Uh, what?" Tracy gaped at the ice monsters, wondering if she had made the right choice to betray the Major and stand with the warriors again.

"We stick to the plan," Melody looked around at her friends confidently. "Elsa, can you handle these ice monsters?"

Elsa nodded. _They somewhat reminded her of the ice monster she had created to protect herself a month ago. _"I think so."

"Then let's go!"

The four girls charged towards the mercenaries and the ice monsters that stood at the base of the mountain.

Major Kane lifted up his left fist to the sky, and the snake totem glowed bright red, casting an ominous red hue over the icy white landscape. The mercenaries saw Kane's signal, and advanced towards the warriors who were rapidly closing the gap and approaching the base of the mountain. The ice monsters followed the mercenaries mindlessly, their only purpose to create more destruction and mayhem.

Maui finally moved from his position, and lifted the fish hook in his hand. In a bright flash of light, he transformed into a brown hawk and catapulted himself off from the mountain, flying across the plain towards the warriors and mercenaries.

The four girls collided with the onslaught of mercenaries and ice monsters, beginning the battle for mankind's fate.

Kane walked back into the cave, trident still in hand, and came to a spot in the cave where there was a large hole in the ceiling of the cave. Light flooded into the cave, creating a spotlight on the icy ground. Stopping below the hole, he looked up. _Yes, this was it._ With great force, he jammed the trident into the ground, creating a hole the size of the trident's shaft. With the trident stuck in the ground, Kane placed both his hands on the magical weapon. Closing his eyes, he chanted an incantation under his breath. The trident lit up, and golden energy erupted from the tips of the fork, shooting up into the sky. Kane released the trident and stepped back, a smirk of satisfaction spreading across his face.

###

Melody blocked another attack from a mercenary, and used her bow as a blunt weapon to knock her opponent off balance. She inched closer to the base of the mountain, fighting off more mercenaries who had come her way. Suddenly, she could see a faint flow of golden covering the terrain. She looked up to see a golden blast of light shooting up into the sky. "Guys!" she shouted to her teammates, who were equally occupied with fending off mercenaries and ice monsters. "It's begun! Kane is melting the ice caps!"

"We got it down here!" Tracy raised her arm to shield herself, and as the mercenaries came into contact with her, black magic rippled out from the points of contact, and they were thrown a short distance from her.

"Go! We got this handled!" Elsa froze an ice monster to the ground, preventing him from moving another step.

"Moana!" Melody swiftly slid beneath the swing of an ice monster as it roared, and manoeuvred her way over to Moana, who was using her tribal spear to trip up a couple of mercenaries, knocking them off balance. "We got to get up there now!"

"How?" Moana asked, fending off another opponent by jabbing the back end of her spear at him.

Melody removed a grappling arrow from her quiver, and placed it in the nocking point of her bow. Drawing back her bow, she aimed high for the mountain cave and compensated for the gravitational pull's effect on her trajectory. _No time for her to calm her breathing. They were in the middle of a battlefield, and she didn't have the luxury of time. She just had to shoot and pray that her years of training would pay off._ She released the grappling arrow and it flew with a cable attached to it. It landed on the mountain's side near the opening of the cave, its hooks digging into the stone and ice and anchoring itself securely. "Hold on!" she beckoned to Moana, who placed an arm around Melody's shoulder securely. Melody tugged on her bow which was attached to the arrow's cable, and the bow became a pulley system, lifting the two girls up into the air towards the mouth of the cave.

Landing on the mountain, Melody removed the grappling arrow from the stone and released the cable. She quickly recoiled it and stuck in back into her quiver. "Come on," she said. The two girls walked past the second dead right hand man, and into the cave cautiously, armed and ready for a fight with Major Kane.

In the cave, the duo remained close to each other with weapons in hand, surveying their new surroundings. The ground was damp and stony, and the cave was dark and cold, with huge spikes of melting ice hanging dangerously from the ceiling of the cave. The trident had begun its work, and the ice throughout the entire North Pole had already started to melt faster than they had expected. They really didn't have much time left. The cave itself was large and had many crevices and blind spots, which made it a good turf for the Major. He had the element of surprise, and could jump them at any moment, and they made mental notes to be extra cautious.

"Look out!" Moana shrieked, dropping her spear and pushing Melody out of the way.


	22. Chapter 22: The Fight to the Finish

Chapter Twenty Two

The Fight to the Finish

Melody was hurled to the ground, and she quickly turned to see Moana diving to the opposite side just as a large icicle came crashing down from the ceiling, smashing into a million pieces on the stony ground. "Moana!" she shielded her face as shards of broken ice flew towards her direction. Some fragments of sharp ice skimmed across her arm, but fortunately the down jacket that Elsa had created for her held up, protecting her from getting cut. Picking up her bow that she had dropped when she fell to the ground, she got up and raced to where Moana was, a sinking feeling gripping her entire being.

"Ugh." Moana stirred and rubbed her head.

Melody heaved a sigh of relief, gratefully extending her free hand to Moana. "Thanks. I owe you one."

"Yeah no kidding," Moana winced as she massaged her ribs gently, feeling a dull pain spreading across her left side. "Let's just find the Major and finish this." She picked up the spear that she had dropped, careful not to stretch the side that she had injured. "I want to get out of here as soon as we can."

Melody nodded and the two girls continued to walk the path that they were on before the icicle had dropped from the ceiling. As they ventured further into the cave, they could start to see a faint golden glow on the icy walls of the cave. The girls walked closer to where the light was coming from, and they gradually began to hear a distinct and constant shimmering noise echoing throughout the cave. Melody stopped in her tracks, and held out her arm silently as a signal to Moana to stop moving. She inched towards the cave wall quietly like a cat, and Moana followed suit. Crouching, Melody peered out from behind the wall to see where the light and sound was coming from.

The cave's passage opened up into a huge space, filled with uneven ground covered in ice and a high ceiling that had numerous huge icicles hanging precariously from it. Near the centre of the huge room, there was a huge hole in the ceiling that allowed the sunlight to burst into the cave like a spotlight, and in the centre of that spotlight was the trident, vertically jammed into the ground with the fork facing upwards. The trident was beaming golden rays of magic into the sky, no doubt doing Kane's work: melting the ice caps at an accelerated rate.

The Lamp of Jafar had been discarded on the ground, now that it had outlived its usefulness and the Major had used up all three wishes. Melody made a mental note to swing back and pick it up after she had finished with Kane, as she and the others needed to deliver it back to King Aladdin in Agrabah.

Standing slightly out of the spotlight was Major Kane with his back to the two girls. He had just begun another spell, and was closing his eyes in concentration. As he muttered a foreign language under his breath, dark red energy started to appear around him like faint, flickering flashes of lightning. Then all of a sudden, he stopped, and the dark red energy disappeared. "I know you're there." He spoke out of the blue, sending chills down the girls' spines. "You might as well come out of hiding."

Melody stepped out from behind the wall. "Who said anything about hiding?"

"You can't stop what's happening. It has already begun."

"Yeah, we can see that. What about your own little spell with the dark magic we just saw you performing? You haven't told us about that part of your plan."

"That's none of your business."

"We're making it ours."

"Heh. You girls really believe you can stop me. That's cute."

"You've told us every part of your plan before," Moana gripped her spear tighter. "So why are you so tight lipped about what you're doing now?"

"That's personal, Moana. You of all people should understand."

"You're trying to bring your family back, aren't you?" Melody cut right to the chase.

Major Kane narrowed his eyes, impressed by Melody's perceptiveness. "Yes."

"You can't do that! You don't know what kinds of forces you're dealing with!" Moana exclaimed in horror.

"Maybe bringing the spirits of the dead into the mortal realm is a little out of my wheelhouse, but I've come too far to stop at half measures now. My family needs to see the saviour I have become before I finally join them at long last."

"You mean you want them to see you murdering millions."

"_Saving_ humanity."

"You're delusional, Kane."

"Maybe so, but neither of you are going to stand between me and my family. This is personal. Get out. Now."

"Not a chance. Not like this."

"Fine," Kane clenched his left fist in resolve, and the snake totem on his ring finger glowed bright red. "So be it." He lifted his hand, and the red aura continued to grow, the field of energy increasing by the second. With a loud grunt, he hurled the huge ball of black magic towards the direction of the two girls.

Melody and Moana dove out of the way as the blast of black magic erupted on the ground, sending snow and ice everywhere. The impact of the blast shook the cave, and an avalanche of snow that covered the ceiling of the cave descended, burying the two girls.

Major Kane turned his attention back to his spell, repeating the chant from the very beginning. Again, dark red energy began to flicker, slowly appearing in front of him as he got past the first part of his chant.

Emerging head first from the avalanche, Moana used her white magic to pull herself out of the snow. "I've still got a score to settle with you." Moana picked up the spear that she had released when she had avoided the Major's attack. "I haven't forgotten!"

Melody stuck her head out of the snow, gasping for air as she saw Moana running towards Kane. "Moana wait! Stick to the plan!"

It was too late. Moana aimed her free palm at the Major and streaks of white magic struck his back, disrupting him from his spell.

Kane staggered, his concentration broken. The spell ended abruptly, and the black magic faded into the air once more. Annoyed, the Major spun round to see Moana rushing headlong towards him. She aimed her palm at him again, but this time, Kane used his snake totem to deflect and brush away the white magic as if it was a mere insect trying to land on him.

"Haven't we already been through this?" Kane impatiently blocked another blast of white magic from Moana. "Your magic isn't strong enough." As Moana made a wild jab using her spear, Kane sidestepped the attack and caught the spear by the shaft. Her momentum was abruptly cut off, and she was jerked back towards the Major. "Or rather, you aren't strong enough." Kane dangled her in the air by the spear, and hurled her away from him, and she flew towards a wall. The Major fired another tirade of dark red energy towards Moana, and she was sent crashing through the wall of the mountain and out of sight.

The Major narrowed his eyes and turned his focus back to restarting the spell again. "No one will stop me from bringing back my wife and children." For the third time, Kane closed his eyes and began to chant the spell a little more loudly this time.

###

"How many of these guys does Kane have?!" Tracy screeched as she fended off yet another mercenary, slapping him away with a tentacle. She had transformed back into her natural state of an octopid, giving her a slight advantage since she could protect herself with more limbs. "It'll be so much easier if we could just kill them all!"

"No!" Elsa aimed her palms at the ground and swiftly brought them up, creating a thick wall of ice to block a wild swing from an ice monster. The wall of ice shattered into smithereens, and so did the ice monster's hand. "We're not killing any of Kane's men!" She created a slide of ice, elevating herself up to the height of the ice monster's chest. Her slide of ice extended out as she stood on it, and it crashed through the ice monster. The ice monster broke into two, crumbling into unmoving fragments of ice on the ground. "Only the lifeless ice monsters that Kane created!"

"Sure, take all the fun out of it!" Tracy hollered back, using black magic to levitate a couple of surrounding mercenaries off the ground, slamming them hard against the base of the mountain.

Out of the blue, the large brown hawk landed in front of Elsa. She froze, startled by its sudden appearance, and its wings smacked her to the ground. In a flash of light, the brown hawk shape-shifted back into the form of a man. Maui, who had the heart of Te Fiti still strung around his neck, held his fish hook in his hand, towering over Elsa who had been caught completely off guard.

"Maui!" Elsa scrambled to get up from the ground. In all the chaos, she had forgotten that he was still brainwashed and following the Major's commands! "Maui, you have to fight this. Don't let that madman control you!"

Not responding to anything she had said, Maui lifted both his huge arms, and they came crashing down onto the icy ground like boulders just as Elsa narrowly moved out of the way. The ice cracked, making the ground they were standing on unstable.

Stepping away from the cracked ice, Elsa briskly moved away from the mountain walls where she had been boxed in by Maui. The demigod, under Kane's control, was slow to respond, and mindlessly swung at Elsa, who avoided his attack easily.

"Listen to me!"

Another careless swing.

"You showed me the truth. Told me to embrace who I was. And now, I'm telling you to do the same."

Maui roared, lashing out clumsily at Elsa, who moved out of the way again, and promptly aimed at Maui's muscular legs. Ice rose from the ground, surrounding the demigod's legs, and running up to his waist. Elsa focused her powers, and the ice grew thicker, trapping Maui securely in the ice, leaving his upper body free.

"Be true to who you really are. Break free of Kane's control." Elsa stepped closer to Maui, who was unable to move towards her. "Please," She stopped in front of Maui, who had stopped struggling and was staring straight at her with glassy eyes and a blank look on his face. The brainwashed demigod stared straight into Elsa's deep blue eyes, and blinked. Then he blinked again.

"That's it, Maui, come on. You're stronger than him. You're stronger than anyone I know. Remember who you are."

Maui moved his head slightly from side to side, trying to shake himself from his conditioning. He shut his eyes tightly, and gritted his teeth.

"You're not a monster to me."

The words that Maui had once uttered to her triggered an emotional response from the demigod, and with a loud roar, he broke free from the ice that held him in place.

Fragments of ice flew everywhere, and Elsa shielded herself from the shards that flew in her direction. She opened her eyes to see Maui towering before her, the sun shining on his back, creating a silhouette of the bulked up demigod. "Maui?"

"Hey Elsa." Maui grinned, his eyes once again their usual colour.

Elsa was overcome with relief and lunged forward, embracing Maui tightly as she felt the adrenaline drain away. "You had me scared back there."

"Woah woah, what did I miss?" he patted her back, surprised that she was so comfortable with him all of a sudden. _Not that he was complaining. _He looked around, noticing the white landscape that surrounded them. "And…where are we?"

"We've got a lot to catch you up on," Elsa released Maui from her embrace. "First of all, we're in the North Pole. And second," she pointed to the green emerald around Maui's neck. "You've got to get that back to where it came from. The world is crumbling."

"The heart of Te Fiti!" Maui looked down to see the heart dangling from his neck.

"He made you retrieve it for him as part of his plan."

"I gotta get this back to the goddess before it's too late!"

"Go." Elsa placed her hand on Maui's. "Stop all this and make the earth right again."

Maui reciprocated by gently placing his own hand on hers and he turned away. He held the heart of Te Fiti in his hand, and looked out into the horizon with determination and purpose written on his face. _It was on him to restore the heart._ In a flash of light, he shape-shifted back into a brown hawk. His body primed and ready for flight, he let out a war cry and launched himself into the air, leaving a huge dent in the cracked ice. Maui soared through the cold thin air, rapidly growing smaller until he vanished completely out of sight.

Elsa turned her attention to the landscape in front of her. The sun was starting to dart behind the clouds and the sky was turning dark and stormy. Lightning flashed across the sky and struck the mountains in the distance. The ominous rumbling of thunder was coupled with the sound of the mountain summits disintegrating into rocky debris. _The ice caps were melting quickly, courtesy of Kane, and she had to do something fast._

"Tracy, cover me. I have to focus!" Elsa called out to Tracy, who was still busy fending off enemies.

"Why?"

"Weren't you listening to Melody's plan? The Major is melting the ice caps!"

"Oh right. Yeah, I got you covered."

Elsa stood facing the ice caps that were melting in the distance, and exhaled. _She so wasn't ready for this. She just hoped that her powers were enough to reverse the damage that Kane had done to the ice._ Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she calmed her breathing and aimed her hands at the ice caps. She allowed her powers to flow out of her naturally, which streamed out of her palms to meet the melting ice caps. Slowly but surely, the melting slowed down and the effects on the ice caps began to be reversed. _Yes, it was working! Somehow. She didn't know how she was doing it, but it was working! _

###

With the bottom half of her body still trapped in the snow, Melody struggled to reach for her quiver. She took out a grappling arrow and nocked it securely. Aiming at the ceiling of the cave, she released the arrow. It flew upwards and the arrow's grapple hooked securely onto the ceiling. She tugged on the arrow to make sure that it was safely anchored into the ceiling. It certainly wouldn't do if the ceiling broke apart and collapsed on top of her while she was pulling herself out of the snow. The cable attached to the arrow went taut and held securely, and Melody used the bow as a pulley to free herself from the snow that had buried her. Moana had been thrown out of the cave, so that just left her to confront the Major. She was annoyed that Moana had strayed from their plan, and she wasn't sure that she could take him down by herself. She had already tried twice and failed.

However, she had no choice as everyone else was unavailable. Elsa was reversing the damage Kane was doing. Moana had been thrown out of the cave and had not returned since. Tracy was fighting off the mercenaries and ice monsters. She wasn't sure what had happened to Maui. _Was he still brainwashed or had Tracy and Elsa helped him break free of the mind control?_ Melody didn't know. It seemed like she was the only one who was left to stop the Major. She took a deep breath._ Here goes nothing. _

Major Kane was standing with his back to her, still focused on the spell that would bring the spirits of his family members back to the mortal realm. He had gotten way further with his spell this time. The words he spoke seemed to emit a strange reverberation a nanosecond after he had uttered them, which sounded blood curdling to her ears. Sparks of dark red energy flew around him, and strange symbols appeared out of thin air in front of him in languages that didn't seem human. The Major really was dabbling in things that were way beyond him, and could possibly unleash greater forces of evil by accident if he wasn't careful.

Melody looked at the trident that was still etched in the ground. _Stopping the ice from melting was still a priority._ She took another arrow from her quiver and checked to make sure it was the right one. A small explosive was tied to the arrow, and she hoped that it would be enough to dislodge the trident and interrupt the procedure, stopping the ice from being melted any further. Placing the arrow in the nocking point, she drew back her bow, aiming at the base of the trident. She looked at Kane. His back was still turned, oblivious to what she was doing.

Suddenly the ground beneath her feet began to shake. _Another earthquake was breaking out again!_ Above Melody, another large icicle attached to the ceiling began to crumble, and dislodged itself. The pointed edge of the block fell towards her, and she dove out of the way just in the nick of time. However, as she was focused on not getting herself killed, she accidentally released the arrow, and it flew past the trident and the Major. She silently cursed as it found its mark on one of the pillars of the cave and exploded, sending ice and debris everywhere.

The explosion shocked Kane enough to break his concentration, and his spell was disrupted for the third time. Incensed, he spun around. "Enough!" the enraged Major unsheathed his Falchion, and stormed towards Melody. "All I want is to see my family again, is that asking too much?"

"Not like this, Kane!" Melody stood up, bow in hand and ready for a fight. "Bringing them back from the dead is just wrong!"

"I don't care!" Kane growled, swinging his sword at Melody, who ducked gingerly. "I don't have anything left to lose!" Clutching the sword till the whites of his knuckles showed, he made a wild stab at her, completely unhinged and out of control.

Melody found herself with her back against the wall, and swiftly rolled out of the way before the Major could box her in. At this point, it was evident to her that the Major had given in to his bloodlust, allowing it to consume him completely.He had been wearing the snake totem for too long, and it had influenced his mind, causing him to forsake his morals in favour of doing whatever it took to achieve his goal. He was no longer the same man she had faced in the marketplace in Agrabah. This Major Kane had no restraint, no compunctions about killing anyone who stood in his way, and that made him all the more dangerous.

She looked at her unhinged opponent. _She had to be smart. Kane was skilled and extremely strong, owing to his huge frame. There was no way she was going to take him down by matching his strength. Or skill. The only thing that would give her an edge was her speed. She had to rely on her agile frame to be faster than him. Every blow had to be strategically placed. Every strike had to count._ Crouching down speedily, she felt the wind of the Falchion blade as it sliced off the ends of a few strands of her hair. Inching backwards, she used her recurve bow to block off a few more of the Major's blows. As his sword and her bow clashed again, she was too focused on fending off his attack and thinking about how to floor him to notice Kane's snake totem glowing red.

A blast of black magic caught her off guard, sending her reeling and off balance. Major Kane launched another tirade of dark red energy at Melody, and it circled around her. The black magic trapped her and tightened its grip, squeezing the breath out of her. Melody tumbled to the ground, still trapped in a bubble of Kane's black magic. She struggled, trying to break free, but to no avail.

Major Kane narrowed his eyes. "I will enjoy killing you slowly for all the trouble you've caused me." Sheathing his sword, he walked back to his spot near the trident, and began the spell again. Chanting loudly in the foreign tongue, sparks of dark red energy began to appear around him again. The strange symbols from before returned, and this time, more joined them. Dark red energy began to form and swirl in front of the Major, and strong gusts of wind from the unearthly realm blew him slightly off balance.

"Yes, it's working!" Regaining his balance with newfound motivation, Kane continued to focus on completing the spell. _He was almost done. _The dark red energy grew black and took on the form of a whirlwind. Gradually, in the midst of the whirlwind, Kane could vaguely make out the forms of a woman and two children. "Yes!" he tensed his muscles in concentration, perspiration dripping down his face despite the cold climate. "Finally!"

A streak of yellow energy suddenly rocketed through the middle of the whirlwind of black magic, disrupting the entire procedure and ending the spell again. The vague forms of Kane's wife and children disappeared, and so did the whirlwind of black magic, much to the horror of Kane. "NO!" Kane let out an agonizing bellow. He clutched his head with both of his hands, sinking to the ground in despair. "I was so close! I almost saw them again!" Another blast of white magic hit the vulnerable Major squarely in the back, sending him flying into one of the pillars of the cave. As he crashed into the pillar, it crumbled and disintegrated into ice and rock, burying Kane beneath the rubble.

The black magic that had bound Melody dissipated into thin air, and she looked back to see where the blast of white magic had come from. Moana was standing at the hole in the cave's wall where the Major had thrown her through, clutching her right arm. She had a couple of cuts on her arms and face.

"Moana!" Melody got up from the ground and ran to her friend. "Are you alright?"

"I thought I was dead for sure, but then I managed to grab onto a boulder as I was tumbling down the mountain," Moana looked at her right arm. "The sudden stop almost ripped my arm out."

"Good to have you back. But look, we got to stick to the plan." Melody told her firmly. "Remember our training on the beach. Don't let your anger and vengeance control you."

"I'm sorry. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw my chance."

"Now we've got a second chance. Dig down deep and focus on the light inside of you, because that's the only way you can match the Major's power. That's the only way that we stop Kane and save everyone."

The rubble where Kane had been buried under began to move and rumble. Dark red energy shot out of the crevices and gaps, causing a large amount of rubble to be tossed in all directions. The Major rose from the remaining rubble, his skin and clothes covered in debris. He looked around for his enemies, and spotted the two girls at the opposite end of the cave.

"He's unhinged." Moana noted uneasily.

"He's got a right to be. We stopped him from bringing his family back from the dead."

"How do we stop someone who keeps getting back up?"

In desperation, Melody removed an arrow from her quiver, quickly nocked it and drew it back. _Nothing seemed to be able to stop Kane. She was pretty sure even the arrow wouldn't kill him._ Aiming at the furious Major, she released the arrow and it flew towards him.

Before the arrow could reach him, Major Kane held out his hand, and the arrow stopped in mid air, before dropping to the ground.

"There's only one way we can stop him." Melody lowered her bow.

Moana looked at her, uncertainty on her face.

The Major began walking towards the two girls, a dangerous look in his eyes. "Enough!" Kane snarled, aiming his snake totem at the two girls. "If I can't bring my family back, you two are never making it out of this cave alive!" The snake totem began to glow and dark red energy materialised from it and made a beeline for Melody and Moana.

"Get behind me!" Moana instinctively put her arm out in front of Melody, who instantaneously moved to take cover behind her back. The necklace that Moana's father had given her began to glow brightly, and a protective aura surrounded her entire body. The dark red energy made contact with Moana, and it resulted in a blinding flash of light and a thick cloud of smoke.

Writer's Commentary:

You remember when I said a few chapters ago that I had written my toughest piece? I take it back. This is my toughest chapter. First off, it's the longest chapter I've written so far, and it's jam packed with action. At first, it was slightly more than 7000 words, which obviously I had to trim. There was just so much content to write, it was a challenge to convert the visuals in my mind into words that would aptly describe the action that was going on in the scenes. Planning and choreographing the action sequences was a pain, but definitely fun. I just hope that the experience was immersive enough for you guys.

In this chapter, we see Kane trying to bring his family back to witness his final act of "heroism", and the warriors keep trying to stop him. Here, we see Kane's character evolution just about complete. He's gone from a man of restraint and focus to a lunatic who has been consumed by black magic, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals. This, as Melody also notes, makes Kane all the more dangerous and raises the stakes so much higher.

And of course, at the end of this chapter, there's a cliffhanger which sort of teases that something dire is going to happen next. After all, it certainly wouldn't do to water down Kane's actions by allowing everyone to walk away unscathed now would it? Let's see what goes down next.


	23. Chapter 23: Sacrifice

Chapter Twenty Three

Sacrifice

When the smog finally cleared and Kane could see again, the protective aura around Moana had disappeared. Kane narrowed his eyes and aimed the snake totem at the two girls again. However, this time upon materialising, the dark red energy from the totem sputtered, blinked and died out slowly. "What?" he looked at his precious totem in disbelief. "What's happening?"

"Moana cancelled you out." Melody stepped out from behind Moana. "No more magic."

"H-how is this possible?"

"She's learnt to harness her light magic and is now just as powerful as you. The light and darkness have been balanced and neutralized. It's over Kane."

"I don't need magic to kill you both." Kane growled. He unsheathed his Falchion again and walked towards the two girls with a menacing posture.

"Stay behind me and just focus on keeping his magic at bay." Melody raised her recurve bow and closed the gap between her and the Major. As they clashed, Melody immediately went on the offensive._ The world didn't have much time left._ She was the only one capable of overriding Kane's spell over the trident as she was a descendent of Poseidon, but first she had to defeat the deranged warlord. Melody went low and struck the Major's left shin, using her bow as a blunt weapon.

The Major lashed out, and she quickly moved out of the way, resulting in his sword hitting the stony ground covered in snow. Melody moved to the back speedily while Kane was still lifting his sword, and used her momentum as her driving force as she drove the riser of the bow against Kane's spine. As Kane arched his back in reaction to the attack, she kicked the back of his knee with all the strength she could muster, causing him to stagger off balance and sink to a knee. With the Major's vertical base compromised, Melody swiftly spun round and used her left leg to hook around the back of Kane's neck. She pushed herself off the ground with her right leg and completed a rotation. Kane was forced to roll across the ground as she landed perfectly in a crouched position with her bow still in hand.

As Kane was forced to roll across the ground, he used his long legs to his advantage, kicking Melody away from him. Quickly breaking the roll and getting to his feet, he was unprepared as she came at him again, throwing her full weight against his midsection, causing Kane to lose his balance and tumble backwards. As he landed on his back, Melody immediately used her bow's riser to plant a short jab on his wrist, and he grunted, letting go of his sword in pain.

Moana ran up to them and kicked the sword far away from the Major's reach as Melody placed her boot on his chest, pinning him to the ground. "It's over."

An earthquake suddenly began to break out again, and just as the cave started to experience tremors, they stopped just as quickly as they started.

"Looks like Maui restored the heart in time." Moana said.

"You're done, Kane. Your mission is a flop." Melody added, making sure her boot was firmly planted against Kane's chest.

"I'm done when I say I'm done." Kane snarled, his eyes gleaming with fury. _He couldn't allow his mission to be compromised now, not when he was so close to success. And especially not by a rag tag team of teenagers!_ The snake totem glowed red again as he focused all his energy into overcoming Moana's white magic.

"I thought you neutralized his black magic!" Melody turned to Moana in shock, realizing that Kane was still able to tap into the dark arts.

"I am! I don't know what's going on!" Moana replied frantically. She looked at her hands in confusion, desperately trying to focus on cancelling out his magic with her own.

The dark red energy from the snake totem expanded like a bubble and finally erupted, casting a red hue over the entire cave. Both Melody and Moana were thrown by the impact of the blast, and they landed hard on the stony ground. On the ground, the two girls lay dazed as Kane stood up from where Melody had felled him, and walked towards them, his face sinister.

"You're right. It's over." The Major towered in front of the two girls, pointing the snake totem straight at them. It glowed red, the light casting a red hue on their faces, and they shielded themselves, bracing for impact. It seemed like they were going to be incinerated by black magic channeled by his sheer wrath and had met their end at the hands of the ruthless Major.

"NO!"

Melody and Moana opened their eyes in time to see Tracy spring in front of the snake totem with her tentacles raised to shield them just as black magic flew forth to destroy whatever stood in its path. Tracy took the full force of Kane's unforgiving bloodlust, screaming in agony as she absorbed all of the black magic into her being. Then, it was over in the blink of an eye and she collapsed to the ground, her body limp like a rag doll.

"Tracy!" Moana dashed towards the fallen octopid. She slid to a stop and dropped to the ground by Tracy's side to check on her. "Her pulse is weak! She's fading!" Moana gasped in horror.

"Just as well, she had it coming." Kane picked up his sword without an ounce of remorse and raised the snake totem, pointing it at Moana and Melody again. "Round two then."

Dismayed, Melody fired two arrows consecutively at Major Kane, who deflected one with his sword and caught the other in his free hand. Kane hurled the arrow he caught in Melody's direction. She moved out of the way, catching it deftly as it flew past her face and placing it back in the nocking point. As she turned around to face Major Kane again after avoiding his throw, she aimed low and immediately fired the arrow at him again. He had no time to respond, and the arrow found its mark in Kane's left leg which resulted in Kane letting out a resounding roar of pain.

Giving Kane no time to react, Melody dashed towards him with full force, bow in hand. His leg was already injured, so she could use that to her advantage to keep him off a vertical base. She dropped to her knees, sliding across the slippery ground and attempted to use her inertia to trip Kane up. Knocking into his bulky legs, she felt like she had rammed against tree trunks, but managed to make him lose his balance. He fumbled and fell face first heavily onto the ground. As he attempted to get up, Melody spun round to face his back and leaped, bringing her knee down on his spine, causing him to be floored yet again.

When she was sure that he wouldn't get up, she sprinted over to the trident, which was still etched into the ground. With all her might, she grunted and managed to wrench the trident loose from where Kane had wedged it. The trident's glow subsided, and the weather gradually returned to normal, the dark storm clouds and the lightning disappearing. "Your quest is over." She said, wielding the trident in one hand and her bow in the other. "You willanswer for your crimes."

"No. You _will_ die for standing in my way!" Kane picked up his sword, limping towards Melody. She blocked off his wild stabs with both the trident and the bow, and attempted to land some blows of her own, which were blocked off by either his skill or his blind rage. Kane raised his sword and brought it down, and Melody quickly raised both the trident and bow in a crossed formation to block the attack. As the weapons clashed, the two opponents grunted. With a skilful swipe of his blade, the Major sent the trident flying out of Melody's hand to her surprise.

He lifted up the Falchion again, and with all his might, he let out a cry of rage, bringing his sword down yet again. This time, when Melody lifted her bow to defend herself, it was split into two by the sheer strength of Kane's attack, one of the bow's limbs falling to the ground. She jumped back to put some space in between her and the hysterical Major. She dropped her now broken bow. _Kane had broken her best weapon, and had left her no choice._ Lifting her hands in a combat stance, Melody spaced her feet at shoulders width apart, bracing herself for an all out hand to hand brawl. She looked about, realising that she had boxed herself in, and there was nowhere for her to run.

"This ends now." Kane pointed his snake totem straight at Melody, and it glowed red.

Suddenly, a blast of ice hit Kane, and it froze his left hand. The red glow subsided, and the snake totem was trapped in the ice, rendered completely harmless. "I don't think so." Elsa walked towards Kane confidently from the entrance of the cave.

"You!" With evil intentions, Kane aimed his left hand at Elsa on instinct, only to realise that his snake totem had been frozen solid. The usual red hue could no longer be seen, and Kane couldn't feel the black magic flow out of him, no matter how hard he tried. "No!" Kane violently shook his left hand, desperately hacking at the ice with his right hand. "It can't end like this!"

"Kane!"

The Major, distracted by Elsa, turned his attention back to Melody but it was too late.

Melody sprinted towards Kane and before he could react, she sprung up and delivered a hard right knee to his midsection. As Kane grunted sharply and bent over in pain, Melody took a step back and somersaulted forward. Midair, she extended her right leg and the back of her heel came crashing down on the back of the Major's head. He hit the ground hard, and so did his left hand, causing the ice to shatter, exposing his left hand once more. "You're right about one thing." She crouched down in front of the fallen Kane and swiftly removed the snake totem from his ring finger. "This ends now."

"So you think you've won." Major Kane weakly pushed himself up. "What happens now?"

"You're going to face justice for everything you've done." Elsa joined Melody, wary of Kane as if he was going to suddenly lunge at them.

"No."

"That's not up to you." Melody replied curtly.

"I'm not going to prison."

"That's also not up to you."

"When I first started this quest, I always knew that this was going to be a one-way trip for me." Major Kane removed his military vest, looking up at the two girls who stood before him. "It still is. You may have stopped me from bringing my family back, but you can't stop me from seeing them again."

"What are you saying?" Elsa shot a worried glance at Melody.

As the two girls were distracted, Kane briskly reached for his Falchion sword. In horror, Melody and Elsa watched helplessly as the Major ran the sword straight through his own abdomen. Blood slowly seeped through the fabric of his clothes as he dropped to the ground, his head landing in the snow.

"No no no no…" Melody dropped to her knees in front of Major Kane and held the back of his head up, and Elsa covered her mouth, looking like she was about to be sick. "Kane! You're not going to die on us!"

"You can't stop me this time." Kane gloated softly as blood spilled from his mouth, running down his cheek. "But please, fulfil a dying man's last request."

"Stay with me! Kane? Did you hear me?"

"Save humanity."

"What?"

"The world needs the warriors. Save mankind from themselves." Kane looked up at Melody, the life slowly draining from his face. "Please."

Melody looked at Elsa, and then back at Kane. She nodded. "We will."

"Thank you…" Kane whispered in gratefulness, and for a moment Melody and Elsa thought they had caught a glimpse of the man he had once been. "I'm going to see my wife and children again."

"Kane?"

Silence.

"He's gone." Elsa said softly.

"Guys!" Moana's yell echoed throughout the cave, and the two girls sprinted over to where the voice came from. "She's fading!" Moana looked over her shoulder in desperation at Melody and Elsa. The octopid was lying motionless on the ground, her chest moving up and down ever so slightly that at first glance it seemed like she was dead.

"What's going on?" Maui stepped through the entrance of the cave, walking towards the warriors. He had just returned to the North Pole after restoring the heart of Te Fiti, and had found the three girls huddled over Tracy.

"The Major. He…he was aiming for us, but Tracy jumped in front of his black magic." Moana said. "She saved us."

"No…where is he now?"

"He's gone." Melody replied shortly.

"Escaped?"

"He killed himself, not wanting to spend the rest of his life in prison."

"Is she dead?"

"I can't find a pulse!" Moana looked at the rest, her face ashen. "We might be too late."

"Is there anything we can do?" Elsa asked in dismay.

"I don't know." Maui held his head in his hands, looking at a loss for what to do.

"There might be a way to bring her back."

Elsa, Moana and Maui looked at Melody.

"How?" Maui asked.

"Kane was trying to bring his dead wife and children back into 'the mortal realm', as he called it, which means that they can be reached from our plain of existence. Theoretically." Melody began. "So what if we did the same?"

"How?"

"I don't know how Kane did it, but I'm guessing that energy from the spirit realm has got to still be in the atmosphere. Maybe if we can piggyback off it-"

"Then we can use that energy to bring us into the spirit realm and get Tracy back!" Elsa cut in, understanding what Melody was trying to get at. "Tracy's spirit must still be here, but we don't have much time!"

"But I don't know how to do it!" Moana looked at Melody. "It's way above my pay grade!"

"We believe in you, Moana." Maui placed his large hand on her shoulder.

"You_ can_ do this." Elsa added.

"I'm coming with you." Melody said, and Moana looked at her with uncertainty. "I owe it to her to be there to bring her back."

"Alright." Moana sat on the ground beside the motionless Tracy, and Melody sat down with her. She joined hands with Moana while Elsa and Maui looked on in hope that the plan would work. Moana shut her eyes lightly, and tried to slow her breathing. _One, two, three, inhale. One, two, three, exhale._ Her necklace lit up with a warm yellow glow, casting a tungsten hue on Tracy's motionless body. Feeling a warm tingling sensation from the white magic throughout her entire being, Moana tried to focus on finding the energy signature that Kane had conjured up during his spell.

_Yes, she could feel it!_ The warm tingling sensation had disappeared, and was slowly being replaced by a chilling feeling of dread and morbid danger. _There was only one word to describe the feeling: death._ There and then, Moana knew that she had located Kane's black magic energy signature that would help them tap into the spirit realm. As she tightened her grasp on the energy signature, she could feel herself and Melody slowly being pulled out from their plain of existence and into a foreign void filled with nothing but vast emptiness. Being hauled through the void, it felt as though they were in space, floating along without any gravity. Then all of a sudden, they found themselves levitating in an abyss of oblivion.

"This is the spirit realm?" Melody opened her eyes and let go of Moana's hand.

"I don't know," Moana surveyed her surroundings with uncertainty. "I hope so."

Melody floated away from Moana and she followed behind closely. "I don't see Tracy. Where is she?" She cupped her hands over her mouth. "Tracy! Where are you?!"

"Tracy!" Moana did the same. "We're here to bring you back!"

"Y'all shouldn't have come here."

Melody and Moana spun round, trying to locate where the voice was coming from. They looked down below their feet to see Tracy about twenty metres beneath where they were levitating.

"Tracy, we won," Melody forced her way downwards and reached the downcast octopid. "We defeated Kane. It's over. Let's go home."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tracy inched away from Melody. "Not after all that I've done."

"Tracy-"

"It's better this way."

"No, listen to us." Moana said. "We won because of _you_. Your sacrifice made it possible. Don't you see, Tracy? I was wrong about you. You're not a witch, you're a hero. And you belong with us."

"Y'all don't understand." Tracy's eyes welled up with tears. "All my life, I've been nothing but evil. I did horrible things. At least this way, I get to die doing something good for a change. I get to redeem myself." She looked at Melody, hoping that she would empathise with her. "Isn't that what you said you wanted for me?"

"I have a better solution." Melody held Tracy's hands in her own. "Don't die to redeem yourself. Live on as a better person."

"Come back." Moana added. "You're a part of us."

Tracy nodded gently and closed her eyes, letting the tears stream down her face. When she opened them again, she found herself back in the land of the living. She sat up weakly, looking around to see the hopeful faces of her teammates crouching over her. "Ugh." She groaned, massaging her temples. "Don't crowd me, it's embarrassing."

"Welcome back, Tracy." Elsa smiled warmly.

"Whewww, we really thought we lost you there." Maui heaved a sigh of relief.

"Great, I guess I have y'all to thank for dragging me back from the dark abyss," Tracy looked at Moana and Melody gratefully. "Thanks."

"You're a part of us." Melody replied with a smile. "We weren't going to let you go that easily."

"Alright, enough with the sappy stuff." Tracy avoided any eye contact in embarrassment. "So what happens now?"

"The fight might be over, but Kane left a lot of destruction behind. It's up to us to get the stolen stuff back where they belong."

"Just when I thought we were done." Tracy lay back on the ground. "Great."

Writer's Commentary:

The battle ends here as our heroines finally manage to defeat Kane after chasing him across a couple of continents. I hope Kane's death was a satisfying conclusion to his character. In the end, all he really wanted was to save humanity, no matter how flawed his ideology was. He really did believe that he was trying to do good, despite the consequences, and he always knew that it was going to be a one-way trip for him.

It was particularly compelling for me to see this villain pass the torch of saving the world to the warriors he has been trying to defeat throughout the course of the entire novel. Deep down, he knows that they are more than capable of doing so, and is able to die at peace, concluding his character arc.

Then we have the whole segment of bringing Tracy back from the spirit realm. That was tricky to write. And also, I had to ask myself: am I doing Tracy's character justice by bringing her back? Will I water down her sacrifice if she returns to the land of the living? And then I decided, she has so much more potential that it would be a complete waste to kill her off. She's here to stay, at least for a while, so fans of her character can be at ease. For now :)

Next, we're heading into our final chapter to close the story. Stay tuned to find out what happens to our heroes in the aftermath of Kane's quest!


	24. Chapter 24: Epilogue

Chapter Twenty Four

Epilogue

A day had passed since the warriors had stopped Kane from successfully inciting the worst natural disasters the world had ever seen. Still, some damage had been done before they could stop him, and the world was dealing with the aftermath of Kane's quest. Denmark was among the many kingdoms and civilizations that had been affected by the disasters. As the kingdom was directly beside the ocean, it was inevitable that the waves had broken past the coastline and flooded into the city.

The two girls waded through knee deep water that covered the entire kingdom and passed by the town square. They watched as the citizens chipped in to help in the relief operation. Some were armed with buckets, while others shifted away debris and tried to restore some semblance of their property. Even the children and the elderly were all involved in some form or fashion.

"Come on, it's going to be fine." Melody tugged at Tracy's wrist as she felt some resistance from the octopid.

"Yeah, maybe for you," Tracy slapped Melody's hand away and waded through the water. "You're the Princess of this kingdom after all, what do you have to worry about?"

"Tracy," Melody stopped to help a couple of citizens move a large piece of wood away from the wreckage, before continuing towards the palace. "Stop thinking so much."

"Me, I'm the daughter of Morgana, sworn enemy of the seven seas. This ain't gonna end well for me."

"Now that's just the nerves talking. You're trying to find a way out."

"Maybe I am."

"Come on, the whole point of coming back here is to get my parents to grant you immunity. You're gonna need a place to live from now on, and what better place than here?"

"Sure. That's gonna work out well."

"Now stop being a stick in the mud and let's go."

The two girls made their way across the roads submerged in water leading up to the palace. They walked up the steps to the entrance, where two guards stood at attention in front of the palace.

"Your Highness," one of the guard at the entrance bowed.

"How may we be of service?" the other guard said, bowing as well.

"Is my dad in?" Melody asked as Tracy hung back, emptying her shoes that were filled with water onto the dry steps.

"Yes, your Highness, the King is in the royal court. May we escort you in?"

"No need for that," Melody turned back to glare at Tracy, embarrassed at her friend's lack of etiquette. "We'll be fine on our own."

Melody walked into the palace, and as Tracy followed behind, the two guards blocked the octopid's path.

"Uhh…" Tracy peeked between the burly guards' bodies. "Princess! A little help?"

"Oh, I forgot." Melody spun round, hurriedly returning to the entrance. "It's okay. She's with me."

"Apologies, your Highness." The two guards opened up, and Tracy walked into the palace, admiring the grandeur of the interior.

"Cool house." Tracy marvelled, forgetting her anxiety for a moment.

"Thanks. Come on, we got to find my dad."

The two girls walked up the stairs to the second floor where the royal court was, and pushed open the doors. They walked in to see King Eric speaking with a couple of governors, no doubt in a discussion about the relief operations that were going on outside.

"Is this a bad time?" Melody asked, her voice echoing throughout the quiet court, and everyone turned to see where the voice came from.

"Melody?" King Eric was shocked to see his daughter. "I'm sorry," he turned to the governors. "Can we finish this later?"

The governors bowed and made their way out of the room, leaving the King alone with Melody and Tracy.

"So, Dad," Melody walked towards her father sheepishly. "Are you mad?"

"Not anymore," Eric embraced his daughter tightly, overjoyed that she had returned. "I was so worried that something had happened to you!"

"I'm sorry about the prison breakout," Melody struggled to breathe as her father hugged the air out of her. "It was really important."

"I know, I can tell." Eric let go of his daughter. "When the floods and earthquakes broke out, I knew something was wrong. And it scared the wits out of me knowing that you were out there with that _'demigod'_."

"I'm fine, Dad. And it's true, he really _is_ a demigod. I saw things that you wouldn't believe!"

"And that's what scares me. I'm just glad you're back."

At that moment, another head peeked into the royal court. "Melody?"

Melody turned to see Ariel at the door of the court. "Mum? You're back!"

"I returned to the surface as soon as the floods hit," Ariel walked towards her daughter and enveloped her in a hug. "Are you okay? Were you hurt?"

"I'm alright, Mum." Melody returned the hug. "How's Grandfather?"

"He's back to normal, overseeing the restoration of Atlantica after the battle." Ariel released her daughter. "When you have time, please visit him. He's been anxiously asking about you."

"I will. I can't wait to tell him about everything that has happened!"

Ariel glanced over at Tracy, who was waiting quietly in the corner with folded arms. "Tracy, right?" she nodded at the girl.

"Hey," Tracy lifted a hand awkwardly.

"I brought Tracy here because I wanted to ask something," Melody began. "You see, Tracy can't go home and needs a place to stay," she looked at her parents hopefully. "And I was hoping that we could let her stay here in the palace with us."

"I mean, it's cool if it's gonna be too much trouble." Tracy added quickly, and Melody glared at her in annoyance.

Eric and Ariel looked at each other, and Melody held her breath as she waited anxiously for her parents' answer. Tracy shifted her weight from foot to foot awkwardly, and Melody gestured subtly for her to cut it out.

"I'm sure we can arrange something," Eric broke the silence, and Melody heaved a sigh of relief.

"Thanks, Your Majesties." Tracy said, and the King and Queen smiled at her.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Melody glanced at Tracy.

"What?"

"The trident!" Melody hissed.

"Oh, right." Tracy conjured up a cloud of purple mist, and the trident materialized in her hands.

"The trident! You got it back!" Ariel excitedly took the trident out of Tracy's hands. "How?"

"Your daughter's a great fighter." Tracy smirked and Melody blushed.

"I've got to get this to your grandfather right away!" Ariel kissed her daughter's forehead and proceeded to place a hand warmly on Tracy's shoulder in gratitude, before hurriedly walking towards the door of the court. "He's going to be so thrilled that you got it back!"

"Yeah…and I'm gonna go find the restroom." Tracy excused herself, leaving father and daughter alone in the court.

Eric chuckled. "Looks like you've been busy."

"Yeah…it's been quite an experience."

"You've come a long way since that incident six years back, you know that right?"

Melody looked away from her father, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah."

"You're so much like your mum, always seeking out thrills. I might not fully approve of your adventures," Eric continued. "But know that I'm always proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad." She smiled sheepishly.

The two embraced again, and Melody felt a warm sensation sweep over her. _Satisfaction. Like her father said, she was no longer the same twelve year old girl who had been the cause of the Takeover of the Seven Seas. She had played a part in saving the world, and she was proud of that, even though not everyone knew about her efforts. At least in her own eyes and her parents', she had redeemed herself, and that was what really truly mattered to her. _Melody smiled and closed her eyes.

###

Elsa wiped the perspiration from her forehead as she waited by the docks that had been damaged in the floods caused by Major Kane. She figured that some people, _like herself_, just wasn't meant to live in warm cities like Agrabah. _The heat was just unbearable._ She had ditched her winter gear after arriving in Agrabah, and had created a more cooling outfit for herself: a light blue sleeveless dress and black cotton leggings with blue kitten heels. Looking out beyond the docks, she leaned against the railings of the pier.

"How long more do we have to wait till they get here?" Moana asked, echoing Elsa's exact thoughts.

"I don't know," Elsa replied. "Hopefully soon."

"They said to meet back here by noon today." Moana glanced at the city's clock tower in the distance as the clock struck a quarter past twelve. "I hope they've left Denmark by now."

Just then, a loud screech could be heard from up in the sky, and the two girls looked up to see a huge brown hawk flying towards them. The two girls stepped out of the way as the hawk descended like a missile, cutting through the air at a dangerous speed. Maui landed on the docks beside Elsa and Moana. Melody and Tracy climbed off his back, and Tracy teetered and collapsed onto the ground.

"I told you it was going to be awful." Melody said dryly as Tracy groaned.

"What do you mean?" Maui shape-shifted back into his normal form, standing tall with his fish hook in hand. "It was a world-class landing, wasn't it?" he glanced confidently at Elsa and Moana. They smiled and remained silent, looking at Tracy whose face was pale.

"You call that flying?!" Tracy screeched.

"Yeah, and you're welcome." Maui beamed.

"Come on, we got to go meet King Aladdin." Moana said.

"Did you bring the Lamp?" Elsa looked at Melody.

"Yeah." She fished it out of her backpack to show Elsa before placing it back securely.

"Great, let's go. Maui, carry her if she can't walk."

Maui approached Tracy, who jerked her hand out to stop him. "Get away from me," she groaned as she struggled to her feet. "I've had enough rides from you to last me a lifetime."

The warriors across the damaged and half submerged docks to the far side where the Agrabah palace was located. At the gates stood the palace guards. Elsa walked up to them. "We're here to meet with King Aladdin. He's expecting us."

"Of course. This way, Your Majesty." One of the guards gestured for the warriors to follow him, as he led them up a path towards the entrance of the Agrabah palace. It was a true beauty to behold. Palm trees were planted neatly along the roads and walkways, and tall structures were built into the palace, with huge golden domes at the top. The warriors followed the guard into the palace, where the king was waiting in the great hall.

"Your Majesty, they're here to see you."

King Aladdin turned and saw the familiar faces of the warriors. "Welcome back," he smiled widely, walking down the steps from his throne to meet his guests. "You may go." He nodded at his royal guard, who bowed and left the room. Aladdin waited for the royal guard to close the door before turning his attention back to the warriors. "I hear you have something for me?"

"Yes." Melody took the Lamp from her backpack and passed it to Aladdin.

"Ah." Aladdin looked at the Lamp in his hand. "This cursed thing. I'm going to hide it where no one can ever find it again." He looked up again at the warriors. "Thank you so much for bringing this back safely. I understand you all went through a whole lot of trouble to get it back from this Major. What happened to him?"

"He tried to destroy the world." Elsa said. "But we managed to stop him in the nick of time, but not before he managed to incite some natural disasters."

"Ah. That would explain the floods and earthquakes that stopped just as quickly as they started." King Aladdin mused. "I assume you saw the condition that the city is in now?"

"Yes. We're sorry about that." Moana chimed in.

"No need to apologize," Aladdin's looked at her with kindly eyes. "In fact, I should be thanking you all. Without your timely intervention, who knows what would have happened if the warlord wasn't stopped?"

"I assure you, he won't be a threat anymore." Melody said.

"Yeah, he's dead." Tracy added, and the warriors turned to look at her. "What?" she asked, oblivious of her inappropriate comment.

"That's a relief, I guess." Aladdin held the Lamp in his hand a little more loosely. "We all have enough problems to deal with without having a crazy warlord rampaging through the world trying to steal mystical items."

"Yes, you're right." Elsa smiled politely. "I think it's time for us to go. Thank you for seeing us." She turned to leave, and the rest followed suit.

"Queen Elsa, wait." Aladdin called out, and she turned around. "Where will you go now?"

"Back to Arendelle, I guess." Elsa replied, and it was evident that she was not at all eager to return home. "I can't keep avoiding the inevitable."

"Then I have some news for you."

Curious, Elsa walked back towards Aladdin. "What news?"

"When we first met after the fight in the marketplace, you told me about the referendum that was being conducted in your kingdom," he began. "So after all of you left to pursue the warlord, I decided to put in a good word for you, hoping that it would influence the vote. I requested an audience with Arendelle's Regency Council to tell them of their Queen's heroic actions, but I learnt that the vote had already been cast."

Elsa held her breath anxiously, not knowing what to expect.

"The vote was unanimous. Ninety six percent of the population voted to keep you on the throne." Aladdin had a pleased look on his face, glad that he had the opportunity to deliver the good news to Elsa.

"Elsa! That's great news!" Melody hugged the surprised queen, who was stumped and in astonishment at the results of the referendum.

"You can return to Arendelle with your head held high. Your people chose you." Aladdin continued, a big grin on his face. "They're all eagerly awaiting your return."

"Elsa, don't you get it?" Maui embraced her in a big bear hug. "You didn't win their votes because you were a hero, you won because the people love you! They don't fear you or see you as a monster! That was never true!"

"That-that's great!" Elsa broke her silence after Maui released her from the hug, still in awe at the revelation that her people wanted her to continue ruling as the Queen of Arendelle. _She had been wrong all along! Maybe the people were shocked and a little afraid initially, but not anymore. The outcome of the referendum was clear proof that they didn't see her as the monster she thought she was. The only one who truly wanted her out of the way was the wretched fiend from the council, Chancellor Tobias, but it didn't matter now, because she had won and was still going to return home a hero! _

_###_

"We gotta celebrate," Maui said as walked alongside the docks. King Aladdin had thanked them again and allowed them to take a ship of their choice from the docks as a token of gratitude. He bade them farewell as the warriors left the palace.

"Yes, yes we do," Elsa agreed heartily. Reality had finally set in, and she was beyond overjoyed. "Let's go back to Arendelle. My sister Anna would be so glad to have all of you over as guests. She loves people. Oh, and I can show you all around!" she glanced round at the rest, hoping that they would think it was a good idea.

"Sounds great!" Melody was the first to break the silence.

"I've got no plans," Tracy shrugged, nonchalant as always.

"Let's go!" Maui whooped loudly.

"How about you?" Elsa turned to Moana. "You coming?"

"I'm happy for you, Elsa," Moana smiled. "I really am. And I would love to celebrate with all of you," She looked round at the team of warriors. "But I think it's way past time that I returned to Motunui. The survivors of Kane's attack need their Chief, and I have to return the snake totem to where it belongs." She turned back to Elsa with an apologetic expression on her face. "I'm sorry Elsa, I hope you understand."

"Of course." Elsa hugged Moana. "Wishing you the very best. Goodbye, Moana."

"Goodbye," Moana choked as the rest of the warriors joined the embrace. "Thank you all for showing me how to harness my light. Thank you for saving me from the darkest parts of myself." She sniffled. As they released her from the hug and gave her space, she looked at Maui and playfully punched him on the arm. "Thank you for always being there for me."

"You're welcome." Maui winked, grinning at his best friend. He looked around at the warriors that stood before him. "And thanks everyone for being on this journey with me. When we first started out, I was skeptical about the prophecy and you all. I never thought that those young girls would be the ones to help save the world. I'm sooo glad that I was wrong."

The warriors laughed heartily at Maui's confession, grateful for each other's company and the friendships they had forged along the way.

"It's time." Moana walked over to the numerous ships. She chose one and boarded it. Untying the rope that anchored the ship to the pier, she looked at her friends and smiled. "I hope we meet again someday."

"We will." Melody promised.

Smiling, Moana turned to face the ocean in front of her. She lifted up her palms, and the water around the ship rose into waves that pushed against the side of the ship. The waves held together and the ship was propelled through the ocean, making its way towards the island of Motunui.

As the ship pulled away from the dock and sped off into the horizon, Elsa turned to the remaining warriors. "Shall we?"

"There's something that Tracy and I got to do first," Melody looked at Elsa who nodded. "Can we go there before heading to Arendelle?" She turned to Maui. "I'm going to need your help again getting us to where we need to be."

"I thought you hated my rides."

"I do." Melody smiled playfully at the demigod.

"Wait, we're doing this again?" Tracy protested in horror.

"Whatever you say." Maui grinned. He walked back to their old ship, and tied one end of the rope around himself, and the other to the ship's beam.

"Thank Poseidon, I thought he was gonna fly us there." Tracy heaved a sigh of relief.

Jumping into the water, Maui landed with a splash, and in a bright flash of light, shapeshifted into a brown whale. "Let's go!" he called out to the three girls, who climbed aboard their ship. Pulling the ship across the water, the warriors sped away from Agrabah's docks and into the horizon.

###

"When you suggested we come here, I thought you meant look at it from a distance." Tracy muttered uncomfortably as they swam deeper down towards the underwater cave. "Tell me again why we can't just go to Arendelle? Elsa said that her chefs over in her palace made some great cakes and I'm starving!"

"I wanted both of us to close this chapter of our lives. This place holds somewhat of a big significance for us both." Melody replied firmly, her salmon pink tail propelling her through the water. The two girls had left Elsa and Maui up on the ship while they took a short journey under the sea before they would all head to Arendelle to celebrate their victory in saving the world from the Major's Quest.

"Not that I really care to see it for myself." Tracy shuddered. "Do we really have to?" It was cold up on the surface, and even colder down in the water. However, it wasn't the cold that sent chills down her spine. It was the thought of where they were going and what it meant to her that creeped her out. _For someone as rough and unbudging as herself, she couldn't believe that she had relented to Melody's request. _

The two girls swam into the cave and through the dark and narrow passages. Green substances, most likely algae, was growing everywhere. The cave itself was dark and gloomy, and everything was a mess. It looked like no one had entered the cave in years.

"Here we are."

Tracy looked around as they both entered a large cavern that looked abandoned and ill-kept. "Huh. So this was where she lived after she abandoned me." Shelves of empty potion bottles lined the walls and a witch's trademark black cauldron stood ominously in the middle of the cave. Books on magic were littered everywhere, and some of the pages had disintegrated and were floating aimlessly in the water, while others were torn and tattered, lying half open on the seabed and toppled on the shelves.

"Yeah," Melody looked around at the old cave. "Morgana's lair." _It had been six years since her younger and much more naive self had been in this cave. The last time was when she had brought Morgana the trident, completely unassuming that the sea witch had intentions to rule the seven seas. So much had changed in the past six years. If only Morgana could see her now. _

"Y'know," Tracy began after a minute of silence. "I thought that I would be like…repulsed by coming here, but now that I'm here," tears welled up in the young octopid's eyes and immediately dissolved into the water that surrounded her. "I realized that I actually really miss her. I miss my mum. Is it just me or is that crazy?"

Melody put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "No it's not. I don't know if this is any comfort but, in a way, she helped me to become who I am today. Without her, I never would have decided to try to redeem myself, and I never would have met you."

"Thanks," Tracy fixed her eyes on the cauldron. "I guess I'm just having a tough time trying to reconcile the sea witch who left me behind in the Dark Zone to commit horrible crimes with the 'tough love mother' who raised me to be just like her."

"You don't- Look at me. You don't have to," Melody said firmly and reassuringly as Tracy turned to look at her. "You just need to leave a better legacy."

"I-I don't know how."

"Then we'll find out together."

There was a long silence as the two looked around at the cave, flooded with memories of the sea witch that put them both on the paths that they had gone down to that very moment.

"Let's get out of here." Melody broke the silence, swimming back into the dark passages.

"Yeah." Tracy took one last long look at the cave, before turning to follow Melody.

With that, the two girls swam out of the lair and began to head back to the surface to begin a new chapter of their lives.

~ THE END ~

Writer's Commentary:

Whew. What a story. After the battle, I wanted to conclude the story as quickly as I could so as not to drag it too long, but I had to ask myself: was I completing the character arcs of all the characters?

Did I address the core of the story and the characters' personal quests? Redemption for Melody? Finding who Tracy is meant to be? Justice for Moana and harnessing the light inside of her? Discovering whether Elsa's powers can be used for good? For Maui to successfully bring the prophecy to fruition? These were all questions that I had to check that I addressed by the end of the story, and to reinforce that in the final chapter. I hope that I delivered and that y'all are satisfied with the ending :)

At this point, I have already begun penning a sequel. And it's going to be bigger and better than the first, I can feel it. The Warriors will face a new threat together, and Anna is a key player this time round as the protagonist alongside Elsa! And our Snow Queen is going to be introduced to others just like her, and the world as the Warriors know will be expanded into a much larger place of magic, myths and threats! To pique your interest, here's the working title of the second novel: The League of Sorcerers. Till the release of the sequel, stay stoked!


	25. Sequel Notice

Hi everyone. A sequel to the Major's Quest has been published on my page. Half of the story has already been uploaded, and I know it's a bit late, but here's an invitation for all those who enjoyed the first story to read the second, titled THE LEAGUE OF SORCERERS.

I spent quite a bit of time planning and writing this new story, as it has many world building elements to it which sets up the world that the Warriors live in. Give it a shot and leave a review :)


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